HISTORY 



OF THE 



Ijitta into of Hudson's %mx; 

THEIR 



ORIGIN, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS; TRIBAL 
AND SUB-TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS; 
WARS, TREATIES, ETC., ETC. 



E. M. RUTTENBER 



Ira J. Friedman Division 



KENNIKAT PRESS 

Port Washington, N.Y. 



HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF HUDSON'S RIVER 
First published in 1872 

Reissued in 1971 by Ira J. Friedman Division, Kennikat Press 
Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 78-154049 
ISBN 0-8046-8095-7 

Manufactured in the United States of America 

EMPIRE STATE HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS SERIES NO. 95 



ABP \ 
GIFT 
PUBLISHER 



E r 

Mi R 



PREFACE 



HE pioneer in new fields of historic inquiry 
encounters many obstacles from which those 
who follow the more beaten paths of investi- 
gation are exempt, and especially so if the inquiry 
involves conclusions differing materially from those 
which have been generally accepted. The experience 
of the author in prosecuting the investigations, the 
results of which have been embodied in the work which 
is now submitted to the public, have been no exception 
to this rule. Not only had the history of the Indians 
who occupied the valley of Hudson's river never been 
written, but the incidental references to them, in the 
histories of nations more prominent at a later period — 
treating them as mere fragmentary bands without 
organization or political position among the aboriginal 
nations — being regarded as erroneous, the inquiry 
involved the rejection, to a very great extent, of the 
conclusions of others, and the investigation and ana- 
lyzation of original sources of information. To 
extract the truth and embody it in consistent narrative, 
has involved no little labor and research, and the 
careful weighing of words; and, although the results 




iv 



PREFACE. 



may not be stated in the clearest terms or the most 
flowing rhetoric, nor entirely without error, they are 
nevertheless believed to fully sustain the conclusion 
that the tribes in question have a history which enti- 
tles them to a high rank in the annals of aboriginal 
nations, and which assigns to them native abilities as 
distinguished, eloquence as pure, bravery and prowess 
as unquestionable, as was possessed by those who, pre- 
served for a greater time in their national integrity by 
their remoteness from civilization, became of more 
esteem in their relations to the government but less 
noble in their purposes. 

It has been the object of the author to trace the his- 
tory of the Indians from the earliest period; to show 
their original position in the family of nations, and that 
which they subsequently maintained ; the wrongs which 
they suffered, and the triumphs which they won ; their 
greatness and their decay. In the narrative, liberal use 
has been made of current histories, so far as their state- 
ments were found to be in accordance with the facts. 
Acknowledgment, it is believed, has been fully made, 
and even to an extent which is not customary. Very 
full notes have been introduced for the purpose of 
explaining the text and enabling the reader to judge 
of the correctness of the conclusions drawn therefrom. 
As far as possible the narrative has been divested of 
the recitation of events which do not pertain to it, 
and though necessarily running beyond the limits of 
the territory regarded as the valley of the Hudson, 
has been as closely confined to it as possible, too 
closely perhaps, as it is believed that the eastern 



PREFACE. 



v 



Indians have the same claim to consideration as a con- 
federacy as the western. 

The work is submitted to the judgment of the 
public, with a desire that the author may be lost in the 
theme which he has presented, and the truth of history 
vindicated in behalf of a people that have left behind 
no monuments to their memory save those erected by 
their destroyers. 

Newburgh, N. Y. 



CHAPTER I. 



Hudson in the Mahicanituk — His Intercourse with the 
Indians — Their Traditions concerning his Visit. 

AILING under the auspices of the Dutch West 
, India Company, Henry Hudson, an intrepid Eng- 
lish navigator, moored his vessel, the Half Moon, on 
the morning of September 3d, 1609, in the waters 
of the river which now bears his name. Lingering off Sandy 
Hook a week, he passed through the Narrows, and anchored 
in what is now Newark bay. On the 12th, he resumed his 
voyage, and slowly drifting with the tide, anchored over night, 
on the 13th, just above Yonkers, the great river stretching on 
before him to the north and giving to his ardent mind the hope 
that he had at last discovered the gateway to the Eastern seas. 
On the 14th, he passed Tappan and Haverstraw bays; and 
sailed through the majestic pass guarded by the frowning Don- 
derberg, and anchored at night near West Point, in the midst 
of the sublimest scenery of the mountains. On the morning of 
the 15th, he entered Newburgh bay, and reached Katskill ; on 
the 1 6th, Athens; on the 17th, Castleton; on the 1 8th, Albany. 
Here he remained several days, sending an exploring boat as far 
as Waterford, and sadly learning that he had reached the head 
of navigation, and that the Eastern passage was yet an unsolved 
problem. His return voyage began on the 23d ; on the 25th, 




8 HISTORT OF THE INDIAN 



he anchored in Newburgh bay; reached Stony point on the 
1st of October ; on the 4th, Sandy Hook, and sailed from thence 

.... ..... \ 




Newburgh Bay. 

to Europe, bearing with him the information which he had col- 
lected, not the leas., of which in importance was that in relation 
to the native lords whom he had met on the banks of the river 
he had discovered, and who then broke the silvery surface of 
its waters with their light canoes and awoke the echoes of its 
mountain sides with their wild choruses, of whose power it was 
an emblem, on the waters of which, as they faded away in the 
north, wis wafted their war shallops into tributaries that 
stretched on to the lakes and the great river of Canada, bearing 
with them the prestige of savage supremacy. 

Hudson first met the Indians near the Narrows, where they 
came on board his vessel u clothed in mantles of feathers and 
robes of fur, the women, clothed in hemp, red copper tobacco 
pipes, and other things of copper they did wear about their 
necks ; " of arms they brought none, their mission was peace ; 
but he "durst not trust them." Suspicion breeds suspicion, 
and suspicion leads to violence. Sending an exploring boat up 
the river the next day, it was attacked, on its return to the ship, 



TRIBES OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



9 



and one of the English sailors, John Coleman, was killed by an 
arrow shot in the throat. 1 He was buried upon the adjacent 
beach, the first European victim of an Indian weapon on the 
Mahicanituk. The offense which had been committed by 
himself and his companions is not stated, but may be inferred. 
They were far from the ship, the night came on and a thick 
cloud of rain and fog settled over them; seeing their condition, 
the Indians sprang to their boats to rescue them, fear seized 
them, the savage was more dreaded then the tempest, a falcon 
shot was hurled at the approaching canoes, the swift arrow re- 
plied, and "in the fight one man was slain and two more hurt." 
Day after day the Indians came on board, brought tobacco and 
Indian wheat, and oysters and beans, "making show of love," 
but he " durst not trust them." They brought their women 
and children with them, but he " durst not trust them." At 
Yonkers they came on board in large numbers ; here he de- 
tained two of them, and dressed them in red coats, and though 
they jumped from the ports and swam away, their "detention 
was not the less a violation of the laws of hospitality, so they 
regarded it, for when they had reached the shore they called to 
him "in scorn." 

At Katskill he found a "very loving people and very old 
men." They brought on board " Indian corn, pumpkins, and 
tobacco," and used him well. At Castleton they were very 
sociable, and the " master's mate went on land 2 with an old 
savage, a governor of the country, who carried him to his house 
and made him good cheere." " I sailed to the shore," he says, 
" in one of their canoes, with an old man who was chief of a 
tribe consisting of forty men and seventeen women. These I 
saw there in a house well constructed of oak bark, and circular 
in shape, so that it had the appearance of being built with an 

1 Coleman's point is the monument to voyage, but is very precise in its state- 

this occurrence. ments as to who visited the shore in this, 

3 It has been assumed on the authority and in other instances. He does not give 

of a quotation alleged by De Laet to have the latitude, but from the ship's log it 

been made from a journal kept by Hud- would seem that the place was " six leagues 

son, that the place of this visit was in higher," up the river than that fixed by 

latitude 42 0 18', or in the vicinity of the De Laet, and that it was at Schodac or 

present city of Hudson. (2V. T. Hist. Soc. Castleton. — O'CallagAan, 1, 37; Brod- 

Coll., 1, 300). The journal kept by Juet head, 1, 31 j Collections of tie New Tork 

was not only the official record of the Historical Society, 2d Ser. 1, 326. 



10 



HIS 7 ORT OF THE INDIAN 



arched roof. It contained a large quantity of corn and beans 
of last year's growth, and there lay near the house, for the pur- 
pose of drying, enough to load three ships, besides what was 
growing in the fields. On our coming to the house two mats 
were spread out to sit upon, and some- food was immediately 
served in well-made wooden bowls. Two men were also dis- 
patched at once, with bows and arrows, in quest of game, who 
soon brought in a pair of pigeons which they had shot. They 
likewise killed a fat dog, 1 and skinned it in great haste, with 
shells which they had got out of the water. They supposed 
that I would remain with them for the night ; " but when they 
saw that he desired to return to the ship and that he would not 
remain, they supposed he "was afraid of their bows and arrows, 
and taking their arms they broke them in pieces and threw them 
in the fire." 

At Albany, Hudson repaid the old governor for his entertain- 
ment. The Indians flocked to visit his vessel, and he deter- 
mined to try some of their chief men to see " whether they had 
any treachery in them." " So they took them down into the 
cabin, and gave them so much wine and aqua vita that they 
were all merry. In the end one of them was drunk, and they 
could not tell how to take it." At night they all departed, ex- 
cept the old man who had taken the aqua vita ; " he slept all 
night quietly." On the following day they came again, and 
when they saw that their chief had recovered from his debauch 
they were glad. They returned to their castle and " brought 
tobacco and beads " and gave them to Hudson, " and made an 
oration, and showed him all the country roundabout." " Then 
they sent one of their company on land again, who presently 
returned and brought a great platter full of venison, dressed by 
themselves," and caused Hudson " to eat with them ; then they 
made him reverence, and departed, all save the old man " who 
had found the Indian's paradise with the white man's rum. 
But he took his departure the next day, and two days after re- 
turned, bringing " another old man with him " from the place 
where " the loving people " had first been met. He too brought 
belts of wampum beads and gave them to Hudson, " and shewed 

Probably a black bear. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



11 



him all the country thereabout, as though it were at his com- 
mand. So he made the two old men dine with him, and the 
old man's wife; for they brought two old women, and two 
young maidens of the age of sixteen or seventeen years with 
them, who behaved themselves very modestly. " No doubt 
more wine was served at this dinner, but the aqua vita was evi- 
dently omitted, for the party took their departure at one o'clock. 

On his return voyage " the loving people " met Hudson 
again, and " would have him go on land and eat with them ; " but 
the wind was fair, and he would riot yield to their request. 
Very sorrowfully the old man, who had made the request in 
behalf of himself and his people, left the ship, although com- 
forted with presents and with the assurance that his new friends 
would come again. Passing down through the Highlands, the 
Half Moon was becalmed off Stony point, and " the people of 
the mountains " came on board and wondered at the " ship and 
weapons." One canoe kept " hanging under the stern," and its 
occupant was soon detected in pilfering from the cabin windows. 
When detected, he had secured a " pillow and two shirts, and 
two bandeliers ; " but the " mate shot at him, and struck him 
on the breast, and killed him." The Indians were frightened 
and fled away, some in their canoes, others jumping into the 
water. A boat was lowered to recover the articles which 
they had taken, when one of them who was in the water seized 
hold of it " thinking to overthrow it," but " the cook seized a 
sword and cut off one of his hands and he was drowned." At 
the head of Manhattan island the vessel was again attacked. 
It was here that Hudson had attempted to kidnap two young 
men, who, on their escape, had called to him " in scorn " at 
their betrayal. One of these men, accompanied by his friends, 
now came out to the ship in their canoes. They were not suf- 
fered to enter the vessel, and falling behind it, discharged their 
arrows at it; "in recompense whereof " six muskets replied 
"and killed two or three of them." The Indians retreated, 
and from a point of land renewed the attack ; but " a falcon 
shot " killed two of them, and "the rest fled into the woods;" 
" yet they manned off another canoe, with nine or ten 
men," through which a falcon shot was sent, killing one of its 



12 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



occupants. Then the sailors discharged their muskets, and 
" killed three or four more of them." " So they went their 
way," and the Half Moon was hurried down into the bay, 
"clear from all danger," carrying thence to Holland, in Hud- 
son's simple narrative, an epitome of the subsequent history of 
the intercourse of the Indians with the Europeans ; the clash of 
customs, the violence, the intoxicating cup. 

To most of the Indians the advent of Hudson's ship was a 
strange spectacle. For over an hundred years the white-winged 
messengers of the old world had been wafted by them ; in the 
further south, the white man was not a stranger, but not before 
had his sails been folded on the breast of their waters, nor 
the voice of trumpet and cannon reverberated through their 
solitudes. All this was new and strange; the Great Spirit 
had come to them ; the signals of a mighty change passed be- 
fore their vision. Their traditions repeat that almost with the 
appearance of Hudson in the lower bay, they began to collect 
on the shores and headlands, gazing in astonishment on the 
strange sight ; that when they first saw the Half Moon they 
" did not know what to make of it, and could not comprehend 
whether it came down from heaven or from the devil." Some 
of them " even imagined it to be a fish, or some monster of the 
sea, and accordingly a strange report of it soon spread over the 
land." It was at length agreed among them "that, as this 
phenomenon moved towards the land, whether it was an animal 
or not, or any thing that had life in it," would soon be apparent. 
Runners from the shore went back and forth, and messengers 
were sent to the chiefs of the country to send in their warriors. 
As the ship approached they concluded it was " a large canoe 
or house, in which the great Manitto himself was, and that he 
was probably coming to visit them." Every thing was put in 
order to entertain him ; " the best of victuals was prepared, and 
plenty of meat for sacrifice procured, and idols or images 
examined and put in order, to appease him in case he was 
angry." Other runners soon arriving, declared it to be a 
" large house of various colors, full of people, yet of quite a 
different color from themselves, that they dressed in a different 
manner, and that one, in particular, appeared altogether red, 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



13 



which must be the Manitto himself." The crew of the Half 
Moon soon hailed them with a loud $hout, which so frightened 
them that some were for running away, yet they feared to give 
offense and remained. 

Meanwhile Hudson kept on his course, and the Indians con- 
tinued to collect on the banks of the river, expressing their 
curiosity in the strongest manner. Establishing intercourse 
at last, they ventured on board the ship, where they were 
saluted " in a friendly manner, and they returned the salute 
after their manner." " They are lost in admiration both as to 
the color of the skin of these whites, as also of their manner 
of dress ; yet most as to the habit of him who wore the red 
clothes, which shone with something they could not account 
for. He must be the Great Manitto, but why should he have 
a white skin ? " Then they sat down to eat with their strange 
visitant, " a large and elegant hockhack was brought forward by 
one of the Manitto's servants, and something poured from it 
into a small cup or glass, and handed to the Manitto. He 
drank it, had the cup refilled, and had it handed to the chief 
next to him to drink. The chief receives the glass, but only 
smells at it, and passes it on to the next chief, who does the 
same. The glass thus passes through the circle without the 
contents being tasted by any one, and is on the point of being 
returned again to the red-clothed man, when one of their num- 
ber, a spirited man and great warrior, jumps up, harangues the 
assembly on the impropriety of returning the glass with the 
contents in it ; that the same was handed them by the Manitto 
in order that they should drink it, as he himself had done before 
them ; that this would please him ; but to return what he had 
given to them might provoke him, and be the cause of their 
being destroyed by him. And that since he believed it for the 
good of the nation that the contents offered them should be 
drank, and as no one else was willing to drink it, he would, let 
the consequence be what it might ; that it was better for one 
man to die than for a whole nation to be destroyed. He then 
took the glass, and, bidding the assembly a farewell, drank it 
off. Every eye was fixed on their resolute companion, to see 
what an effect this would have upon him ; and he soon begin- 



14 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



ning to stagger about, and at last dropping to the ground, they 
bemoan him. He falls into a sleep, and they view him as expiring. 
He awakes again, jumps up, and declares that he never before 
felt so happy as after he had drank of the cup.- He wishes for 
more. His wish is granted ; and the whole assembly soon join 
him, and become intoxicated. Then the man with the red 
clothes distributed presents to them of beads, axes, hoes, stock- 
ings, and other articles, and made them understand that he 
would return home and come again to see them, bring them 
more presents and stay with them awhile, but should want a 
little land to sow some seeds, in order to raise herbs to put in 
their broth." 

But from their dream of trusting love they had a speedy 
awakening. Their traditions state that the promise made by 
Hudson to return again was fulfilled the following season, and 
that they " rejoiced much at seeing each other again ; but the 
whites laughed at them, seeing that they knew not the use of 
the axes, hoes, etc., they had given them, they having had those 
hanging to their breasts as ornaments, and the stockings they 
had made use of as tobacco pouches. The whites now put 
handles or helves in the former, and cut trees down before 
their eyes, and dug the ground, and showed them the use of the 
stockings. Here a general laughter ensued among the Indians, 
that they had remained for so long a time ignorant of the use 
of so valuable implements, and had borne with the weight of 
such heavy metal hanging to their necks for such a length of 
time. They took every white man they saw for a Manitto, 
yet inferior and attendant to the supreme Manitto, to wit : to the 
one which wore the red and laced clothes. 

" Familiarity daily increasing between them and the whites, 
the latter now proposed to stay with them, asking them only 
for so much land as the hide of a bullock would cover or 
encompass, which hide was brought forward and spread on the 
ground before them. That they readily granted this request ; 
whereupon the whites took a knife, and beginning at one place 
on this hide, cut it up into a rope not thicker than the finger of 
a little child, so that by the time this hide was cut up, there 
was a great heap ; that this rope was drawn out to a great dis- 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



15 



tance, and then brought round again, so that the ends might 
meet ; that they carefully avoided its breaking, and that upon 
the whole it encompassed a large piece of land ; that they were 
surprised at the superior wit of the whites, but did not wish to 
contend with them about a little land, as they had enough ; that 
they and the whites lived for a long time contentedly together, 
although the whites asked from time to time, more land of them 
and proceeding higher up the Mahicanituk, 1 they believed they 
would soon want all the country." 

1 The Iroquois, it is said, called the river a name which the French adopted in Rio 

the Cohatatea, while the Mahicans and the de Montagne. The English first gave it 

Lenapes called it the Mahicanituk or " the the name of Hudson's river by which, 

continually flowing waters." The Dutch and North river, the latter to distinguish 

gave it the name of Mauritius river, as it from the Connecticut or East river, 

early as 1611, in honor of their stadt- and from the Delaware or South river, 

holder, Prince Maurice, of Nassau. Hud- it has since been known, 
son called it the River of the mountains, 




Henry Hudson. 



16 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 




CHAPTER II. 
Origin, Manners and Customs, etc. 

HE origin of the North American Indians, is a sub- 
ject which has engrossed the attention of learned 
men for over two hundred years, and yet the 
question, " By whom was America peopled ? " 
remains without satisfactory answer. In 1637, Thomas 
Morton wrote a book to prove that the Indians were of Latin 
origin. John Joselyn held, in 1638, that they were of Tartar 
descent. Cotton Mather inclined to the opinion that they 
were Scythians. James" Adair seems to have been fully con- 
vinced that they were descendants of the Israelites, the lost 
tribes \ and, after thirty years residence among them, published 
in 1775, an account of their manners and customs, from which 
he deduced his conclusions. 1 Dr. Mitchill, after considerable 
investigation, concluded " that the three races, Malays, Tartars 
and Scandinavians, contributed to made up the great American 
population, who were the authors of the various works and an- 
tiquities found on the continent." DeWitt Clinton held, that 
" the probability is, that America was peopled from various 
quarters of the old world, and that its predominant race is the 
Scythian or Tartarian." Calmet, a distinguished author, brings 

1 " Observations and arguments in proof several punishments 15. Their cities of 

of the American Indians being descended refuge. 16. Their purifications and cere- 

from the Jews: 1. Their division into monies preparatory to war 17. Their 

tribes, a. Their worship of Jehovah. 3. ornaments. 18. Their manner of curing 

Their notion of a theocracy. 4. Their the sick. 19. Their burial of the dead, 

belief in the ministration of angels. 5. 20. Their mourning for the dead. ai. 

Their language and dialects. 6. Their Their raising seed to a departed brother, 

manner of counting time. 7. Their pro- aa. Their choice of names adapted to 

phets and high priests. 8. Their festi- their circumstances and the times. 33. 

vals, fasts and religious rites. 9. Their Their own traditions, the accounts of our 

daily sacrifice. 10. Their ablutions and English writers, and the testimony which 

anointings. 11. Their laws of unclean- the Spanish and other authors have given 

ness. 12. Their abstinence from unclean concerning the primitive inhabitants of 

things. 13. Their marriages, divorces, Peru and Mexico." — Adair. 
and punishments of adultery. 14. Their 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



17 



forward the writings of Hornius, son of Theodosius the Great, 
who affirms that " at or about the time of the commencement 
of the Christian era, voyages from Africa and Spain into the 
Atlantic ocean were both frequent and celebrated ; " and holds 
that " there is strong probability that the Romans and Cartha- 
genians, even 300 B. C, were well acquainted with the exist- 
ence of this country," adding that there are " tokens of the 
presence of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Carthagenians, 
in many parts of the continent." The story of Madoc's voyage 
to America, in 11 70, has been repeated by every writer upon 
the subject, and actual traces of Welsh colonization are affirmed 
to have been discovered in the language and customs of a tribe 
of Indians living on the Missouri. Then the fact is stated 
that " America was visited by some Norwegians," who made 
a settlement in Greenland, in the tenth century. Priest, in 
his American Antiquities, states that his observations had led 
him "to the conclusion that the two great continents, Asia and 
America, were peopled by similar races of men." 

It is not necessary to add to this catalogue. Men equally 
learned with those whose opinions have been quoted, see no 
obstacle in the way of an opinion that America received her 
population as she did her peculiar trees, and plants, and animals, 
and birds. The geologist examines the relics of the west, and 
where imagination fashions artificial walls, he sees but crumbs of 
decaying sandstone, clinging like the remains of mortar to blocks 
of greenstone that rested on it ; discovers in parallel intrench- 
ments a trough that subsiding waters have ploughed through the 
centre of a ridge, and explains the tessellated pavement to be but 
a layer of pebbles aptly joined by water ; and, examining the 
mounds, finds them composed of different strata of earth, 
arranged horizontally to the very edge, and ascribes their 
creation to the power that shaped the globe into vales and 
hillocks. 1 The mounds, it is true, may have been selected by 
the aborigines as the site of their dwellings, fortifications, or 
burial places ; but the mouldering bones, from hillocks which 
are crowned by trees that have defied the storms of many cen- 
turies, the graves of earth from which they are dug, and the 

1 Hitchcock. 



18 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



feeble fortifications that are sometimes found in their vicinity, 
afford no special evidence of connection with other continents. 1 
" Among the more ancient works" of the west, says another 
writer, 3 " there is not a single edifice, nor any ruins which prove 
the existence, in former ages, of a building composed of impe- 
rishable materials. No fragment of a column, nor a brick, 
nor a single hewn stone large enough to have been incorpo- 
rated into a wall, has been discovered. The only relics which 
remain to inflame the curiosity, are composed of earth." 

To add force to this sweeping blow at the beautiful theories 
that have been woven, the learned Agassis disputes the idea 
of the unity of the races through Adam; while other writers 
pretty clearly demonstrate that the theory of the lost tribes of 
Israel has no foundation in fact. Dr. Lawrence, in his Lec- 
tures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, 
sums up the whole argument by saying that, " in comparing the 
barbarian nations of America with those of the eastern continent, 
we perceive no points of resemblance between them, in their 
moral institutions or in their habits, that are not apparently 
founded in the necessities of human life." 

This is apparently the reasonable conclusion of the whole 
matter, for to pass intelligent judgment, the aborigines of 
America must be taken as they were found, and not as they 
may have appeared after years of association with Europeans, 
an association necessarily producing a mingling of ancient cus- 
toms with those learned from missionaries, or copied under the 
impulse of imitation. These early lessons were taught by men 
of all nations, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, and the 
English, and, before their advent, by the Norwegians. It would 
be strange indeed, under all the circumstances, if the aborigines 
did not have grafted upon them some resembling features of all 
nations. Sir William Johnson, than whom no man had better 
opportunity to form a correct judgment, after considering the 
whole matter, concluded that all theories were defective for 
this reason ; saying, that the Indians residing next to the English 
settlements had lost a great part of their traditions, and had so 

1 Warren in DelafieWs Antiquities. 2 Drake's Picture jaf Cincinnati. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



19 



blended their customs with those of the Europeans as to render 
it " difficult if not impossible to trace their origin or discover 
their explication," while those further removed had nevertheless 
been visited by traders, and especially by French Jesuits, who 
had " introduced some of their own inventions which the pre- 
sent generation confound with their ancient customs." 1 Until 
many of the nations of the old world can satisfactorily explain 
the origin of their own race, it is hardly worth while to endeavor 
to make our aborigines any further kindred with them than that 
the same Almighty Power called them into being and endowed 
them with common instincts. 

Verazzano, 2 who sailed along the coast of North America 
in 1524, speaks of the natives whom he met in the harbor of 
New York, as " not differing much," from those with whom 
he had intercourse at other points, " being dressed out with the 
feathers of birds of various colors." His description being the 
earliest is of the most merit, for at that time they were untainted 
by association with Europeans. In person, he says, they were 
of good proportions, of middle stature, broad across the breast, 
strong in the arms, and well-formed. Among those who came 
on board his vessel were " two kings more beautiful in form 
and stature than can possibly be described ; one was about forty 
years old, the other about twenty-four." "They were dressed," 
he continues, "in the following manner: The oldest had a 
deer's skin around his body, artificially wrought in damask 
figures, his head was without covering, his hair was tied back 
in various knots ; around his neck he wore a large chain orna- 
mented with many stones of different' colors. The young man 
was similar in his general appearance." In size, he says : " they 
exceed us," their complexion tawny, inclining to white, their 
faces sharp, their hair long and black, their eyes black and sharp, 
their expression mild and pleasant," " greatly resembling the 
antique." The women, he says, were " of the same form and 
beauty, very graceful, of fine countenances and pleasing appear- 
ance in manners and modesty." They wore no clothing 
" except a deer skin ornamented like those of the men." Some 



1 Documentary History of New York, iv, 2 Collections of the New York Historical 
431. Society, 2d Series, 1, 45. 



20 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



had "very rich lynx skins upon their arms, and various ornaments 
upon their heads, composed of braids of hair," which hung down 
upon their breasts on each side. The older and the married 
people, both men and women, " wore many ornaments in their 
ears, hanging down in the oriental manner." In disposition they 
were generous, "giving away" whatever they had; of their 
wives they were careful, always leaving them in their boats 
when they came on ship-board, and their general deportment 
was such that with them, he says, " we formed a great 
friendship." 1 

Hudson's experience with them, in 1609, was somewhat 
different, but his references to their personal appearance are 
similar. " This day," he says, " many of the people came 
aboard, some in mantles of feathers, and some in skins of divers 
sorts of good furs. Some women also came to us with hemp. 
They had red copper tobacco pipes, and other things of copper 
they did wear about their necks." 

The Dutch historians, Wassenaar, Van der Donck, and 
others, agree that the natives were generally well-limbed, 
slender around the waist, and broad-shouldered ; that they had 
black hair and eyes, and snow white teeth, resembling the 
Brazilians in color, or more especially " those people who 
sometimes ramble through Netherland and are called Gipsies ; " 
were very nimble and swift of pace, and well adapted to travel 
on foot and to carry heavy burthens. " Generally," says one 
writer, "the men have no beards, some even pluck it out. 
They use very few words, which they previously well consider. 
Naturally they are quite modest and without guile, but in their 
way haughty enough, ready and quick witted to comprehend or 
learn, be it good or bad. As soldiers, they are far from being 
honorable, but perfidious and accomplish all their designs by 
treachery ; they also use many stratagems to deceive their ene- 
mies, and execute by night almost all their plans that are in 
any way hazardous. The thirst for revenge seems innate in 
them ; they are very pertinacious in self-defense, when they 
cannot escape ; which, under other circumstances, they like to do ; 
and they make little of death, when it is inevitable, and despise 

1 Collections of the Neiv York Historical Society, 2d Series, 1, 46. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



21 



all tortures that can be inflicted on them at the stake, exhibiting 
no faint-heartedness, but generally singing until they are dead. 

Their clothing is described as having been most sumptuous. 
The women ornamented themselves more than the men. " All 
wear around the waist a girdle made of the fin of the whale or 
of sewant." The men originally wore a breech-cloth, made 
of skins, but after the Dutch came those who could obtain it 
wore " between their legs a lap of duffels cloth half an ell broad 
and nine quarters long," which they girded around their waists, 
and drew up in a fold "with a flap of each end hanging down 
in front and rear." In addition to this they had mantles of 
feathers, and at a later period decked themselves with " plaid 
duffels cloth " in the form of a sash, which was worn over the 
right shoulder, drawn in a knot around the body, with the ends 
extending down below the knees. When the young men 
wished to look especially attractive, they wore " a band about 
their heads, manufactured and braided, of scarlet deer hair, 
interwoven with soft shining red hair." " With this head- 
dress," says Van der Donck, " they appear like the delineations 
and paintings of the Catholic saints," and, he adds, " when a 
young Indian is dressed in this manner he would not say plum 
for a bushel of plums. But this decoration is seldom worn 
unless they have a young woman in view." 

The dress of an Indian belle was more attractive than any 
which civilized life has produced. Says the writer last quoted, 
" The women wear a cloth around their bodies, fastened by a 
girdle which extends below their knees, and is as much as an 
under coat ; but next to the body, under this coat, they wear 
a dressed deer skin coat, girt around the waist. The lower 
body of this skirt they ornament with great art, and nestle the 
same with strips which are tastefully decorated with wampum. 
The wampum with which one of these skirts is ornamented is 
frequently worth from one to three hundred guilders. They 
bind their hair behind in a club of about a hand long, in the 
form of a beaver's tail, over which they draw a square cap, 
which is frequently ornamented with wampum. When they 
desire to be fine they draw a headband around the forehead, 
which is also ornamented with wampum, etc. This band con- 



22 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



fines the hair smooth, and is fastened behind, over the club, in 
a beau's knot. Their head dress forms a handsome and lively 
appearance. Around their necks they wear various ornaments, 
which are also decorated with wampum. Those they esteem 
as highly as our ladies do their pearl necklaces. They also 
wear hand bands or bracelets, curiously wrought, and inter- 
woven with wampum. Their breasts appear about half covered 
with an elegantly wrought dress. They wear beautiful girdles, 
ornamented with their favorite wampum, and costly ornaments 
in their ears. Here and there they lay upon their faces black 
spots of paint. Elk hide moccasins they wore before the Dutch 
came, and they too were most richly ornamented." Shoes 
and stockings they obtained from the Dutch, and also bonnets. 

Plurality of wives was, to some extent, in vogue among 
them. " The natives," says Van der Donck, " generally marry 
but one wife and no more, unless it be a chief who is great 
and powerful ; such frequently have two, three or four wives, 
of the neatest and handsomest of women, and who live together 
without variance." Minors did not marry except with the 
advice of their parents or friends. Widowers and widows 
followed their own inclinations. Their marriage ceremonies 
were very simple. Young women were not debarred signify- 
ing their desire to enter matrimonial life. When one of them 
wished to be married she covered her face with a veil and sat 
covered as an indication of her desire. If she attracted a 
suitor, negotiations were opened with parents or friends, pre- 
sents given and the bride taken. 

Chastity was an established principle with married females. 
To be unchaste during wedlock was held to be very disgraceful. 
" Many of the women would prefer death, rather than submit 
to be dishonored." No Indian would keep his wife, however 
much he loved her, when he knew she was unchaste. Divorce 
frequently came from disagreements, and was a simple form. 
The wife was handed her share of the goods and put out of 
doors by the husband, and was then free to marry another. In 
cases of separation the children followed the mother, and were 
frequently the cause of the parents coming together again. 
The man who abandoned his wife without cause left her all 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



23 



her property, and in like manner the wife the husband's. Foul 
and impertinent language was despised by them. All romping, 
caressing and wanton behavior they spoke of with contempt, 
as indirect alurements to unchastity, and reproved such conduct 
in the Netherlanders. The Dutch made wives of many of 
them and retained them, refusing to leave them for females of 
their own country. 

Most of the diseases incident to females of the present day 
were unknown to them. Before confinement it was their 
custom to retire to a secluded place near a brook, or stream of 
water, and prepare a shelter for themselves with mats and 
covering and food, and await delivery "without the company 
or aid of any person." After their children were born, and 
especially if they were males, they immersed them some time 
in the water, no matter what the temperature, and then swathed 
them in warm clothing and gave them great attention. Several 
days after delivery they returned to their homes, but until the 
child was weaned, had no commerce with their husbands, 
holding it to be disgraceful and injurious to their offspring. 

In sickness they were very faithful to each other, and when 
death occurred the next of kin closed the eyes of the deceased. 
The men made no noise over the dead, but the women made 
frantic demonstrations of grief, striking their breasts, tearing their 
faces, and calling the name of the deceased day and night. 
Their loudest lamentations were on the death of their sons and 
husbands. On such occasions they cut off their hair and 
burned it on the grave in the presence of all their relatives, 
painted their faces pitch black, and in a deer's skin jerkin 
mourned the dead a full year. In burying their dead the body 
was placed in a sitting posture, and beside it were placed a pot, 
kettle, platter, spoon, money and provisions for use in the other 
world. Wood was then placed around the body, and the 
whole covered with earth and stones, outside of which palisades 
were erected, fastened in such a manner that the tomb re- 
sembled a little house. 1 To these tombs great respect was 
paid, and to violate them was deemed an unpardonable provo- 
cation. 

1 Documentary History of New York, iv, 127. 



24 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Their fare or food was poor and gross, " for," says one 
Dutch writer, "they drink water, having no other beverage." 
They eat the flesh of all sorts of game, " even badgers, dogs, 
eagles, and similar trash which Christians in no way regard." 
All sorts of fish were eaten, as well as " snakes, frogs and 
such like." Their mode of cooking without removing the en- 
trails was not palatable to the Dutch. In addition to their 
meats they made bread of Indian meal and baked it in hot 
ashes, and make a "pap or porridge, called by some sapsis, by 
others dundare (literally boiled bread), in which they mixed 
beans of different color which they raised." The maize from 
which their bread and sapsis were made was raised by them- 
selves, and was broken up or ground in rude mortars. They 
observed no set time for meals. Whenever hunger demanded, 
the repast was prepared. Beavers' tails, the brains of fish, and 
their sapsis, 1 ornamented with beans, were their state dishes 
and highest luxuries. They knew how to preserve meat and 
fish by smoking, and when on a journey or while hunting, 
carried with them corn roasted whole. At their meals they sat 
on the ground. 

Their occupations were hunting, fishing and war. When 
not on the war path they repaired to the rivers and caught fish 
or to the forests and hunted deer, fawns, hares and foxes, "and 
all such," says the narrator who adds, " the country is full of 
game ; hogs, bears, leopards, yea, lions, as appears by the 
skins which were brought on board." The beaver was most 
highly prized by them, not only for its food and fur, but for the 
medicinal uses of the oil obtained. The women made cloth- 
ing of skins, prepared food, cultivated the fields of corn, beans 
and squashes, made mats, etc., but the men never labored until 
they became too old for the field, when they remained with 
the women and made mats, wooden bowls and spoons, traps, 
nets, arrows, canoes, etc. 

Their houses were for the most part built after one plan, 
differing only in lengths. They were formed by long, slender 
hickory saplings set in the ground, in a straight line of two 
rows, as far asunder as they intended the width to be and con- 

1 " The crushed corn is daily boiled to a pap which is called suppaen." 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



25 



tinued the rows as far as they intended the length to be. The 
poles were then bent towards each other in the form of an 
arch and secured together, giving the appearance of a garden 
arbor. Split poles were then lathed up the sides and roof, and 
over this was bark, lapped on the ends and edges, which was 
kept in its place by withes to the lathings. A hole was left in 
the roof for smoke to escape, and a single door of entrance 
was provided. Rarely exceeding twenty feet in width, 
these houses were sometimes a hundred and eighty yards long. 
u In those places," says Van der Donck, " they crowd a sur- 
prising number of persons, and it is surprising to see them out 
in open day." From sixteen to eighteen families occupied one 
house, according to its size. A single fire in the centre served 
them all, although each family occupied at night its particular 
division and mats. 

Their castles were strong, firm works, and were usually 
situated on the side of a steep, high hill, near a stream of water 
with a level plain on the crown of the hill. This plain was 
enclosed with a strong stockade, which was constructed by 
laying on the ground large logs of wood for a foundation, on 
both sides of which oak palisades were set in the ground, the 
upper ends of which crossed each other and were joined together: 
against the rude assaults of rude enemies , these castles were a 
safe retreat. Inside of their walls they not unfrequently had 
twenty or thirty houses, so that a clan or tribe could be provided 
for in winter. Besides their strongholds, they had villages and 
towns which were enclosed or stockaded. The latter usually 
had woodland on one side and corn land on the other. Near 
the water sides and at fishing places they not unfrequently 
had huts for temporary occupancy ; but in the winter they 
were found in their castles which were rarely, if ever, left 
altogether. 

Their weapons of war were the spear, the bow and arrows, 
the war club and the stone hatchet, and in combat they pro- 
tected themselves with a square shield made of tough leather. 
A snake's skin tied around the head, from the centre of which 
projected the tail of a bear or a wolf, and a face not recognizable 
from the variety of colors in which it was painted, was their 



26 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



uniform. Their domestic implements were of very rude construc- 
tion. Fire answered them many purposes and gained for them 
the name of Fireworkers. By it they not only cleared lands, but 
shaped their log canoes and made their wooden bowls. Some 
of their arrows were of elegant construction and tipped with 
copper, and when shot with power would pass through the body 
of a deer as certainly as the bullet from the rifle. The more 
common arrows were tipped with flint, as well as their spears, 
and required no little patience and skill in their construction. 
When they came to obtain guns from the Dutch they were 
remarkably expert with them. 

Their money consisted of white and black zewant (wampum), 1 
which was " nothing more nor less than the inside little pillars 
of the conch shells " which the sea cast up twice a year. These 
pillars they polished smooth, drilled a hole through the centre, 
reduced them to a certain size, and strung them on threads. 
Gold, silver or copper coins they had none. Their standards 
of value were the hand or fathom of wampum, and the denotas 
or bags which they made themselves for measuring and pre- 
serving corn. Such was their currency and such their only 
commercial transactions. To obtain wampum they made war 
and took captives for whom they demanded ransom, or made 
the weaker tribes tributaries to the stronger. 

1 There were two kinds of wampum in wampum, or six of <white y were equal to a 

early use by the Indians, as a standard of stuyver among the Dutch, or a penny 

value, the purple or black and the ivhite. among the English. Some variations, 

The purple was made from the interior por- however, existed in its value, according to 

tions of the -venus mercenaria, or common time and place. A single string of wam- 

conch. The white was wrought out of the pum of one fathom, ruled at five shillings 

pillar of the periwinkle. Each kind was in New England, and is known in New 

converted into a kind of bead, by being Netherland to have reached as high as 

rounded and perforated, so as to admit of four guilders, or one dollar and sixty-six 

being strung on a fibre of deer's sinew, cents. The old wampum was made by 

This was replaced after the discovery, by hand and was an exceedingly rude article, 

linen thread. The article was highly prized After the discovery, the Dutch introduced 

as an ornament, and as such constituted an the lathe in its manufacture, polished and 

object of traffic between the sea coast and perforated it with exactness, and soon had 

the interior tribes. It was worn around the the monopoly of the trade. The princi- 

neck; also as an edging for certain pieces pal place of its manufacture was at Hack- 

of their garments ; and when these strings ensak, in New Jersey. The principal 

were united, they formed the broad deposit of sea-shells was Long Island, 

wampum belts by which solemn public where the extensive shell banks left by 

transactions were commemorated. As a the Indians, in which it is difficult to 

substitute for gold and silver coin, its price find a whole shell, show the immense 

was fixed by law. Three purple beads of quantities that were manufactured. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



27 



They were not skilled in the practice of medicines, notwith- 
standing the general belief on that subject. They knew how 
to cure wounds and hurts, and treated simple diseases success- 
fully. Their general health was due more to their habits than 
to a knowledge of remedies. Their principal medical treat- 
ment was the sweating bath. These were literally earthen 
ovens, into which the patient crept, and around which heated 
stones were placed to raise the temperature. When the patient 
had remained under perspiration for a certain time he was taken 
out and immersed suddenly in cold water, a process which 
served to cure or certainly cause death. The oil which they 
obtained from beavers was used in many forms and for many 
purposes ; among others for dizziness, for trembling, for the 
rheumatism, for lameness, for apoplexy, for toothache, for 
earache, for weak eyes, for gout, and for almost all ills. The 
Dutch took to this remedy and attached to it great value. 

As the term is generally understood, they had no religion, 
but in its place a rude system in which they looked 
" Through nature up to nature's God." 

Good and evil spirits they recognized, and to them appealed in 
sacrifice and fires. Their minister or priest was called kitzi- 
naeka. It was his duty to visit the sick and exorcise the evil 
spirits j or, failing, to see the usual rites for the dead performed. 
He had no home of his own, but lodged were it pleased him, 
or where he last officiated ; was not permitted to eat any food 
prepared by a married woman, but that only which was cooked 
by a maiden or an old woman, and altogether lived " like a 
Capuchin." 1 To the sun, moon and stars they paid particular 
attention. The first moon following that at the end of Feb- 
ruary they greatly honored. They watched its coming and 
greeted its advent with a festival, at which they collected from 
all quarters and reveled " in their way with wild game or fish," 
and drank clear river water to their fill. This was their new 
year ; this moon the harbinger of spring. The harvest moon, 
or the new moon in August, they also honored with a feast, in 

1 Wassenaar, Documentary History of New York, in, z8. 



28 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



acknowledgment of the product of their fields and their success 
in the chase. 

They fully recognized the existence of God, who dwelt 
beyond the stars, and in a life immortal expected to renew the 
associations of this life. 1 But to them God had less to do with 
the world than did the devil, who was the principal subject of 
their fears, and the source of their earthly hopes. No expedi- 
tions of hunting, fishing or war were undertaken unless the 
devil was first consulted, and to him they ofFered the first fruits 
of the chase, or of victory. " On such occasions," says one of 
the early writers, u conjurors act a wonderful part. These 

tumble, with strange 
contortions, head over 
heels, beat them- 
selves, leap, with a hi- 
deous noise, through 
and around a large 
fire. 2 Finally they set 
up a tremendous cat- 
erwauling, when the 
devil, as they say, ap- 
pears in the shape of a 
ravenous or harmless 
animal ; the first be- 
tokens something bad, 
the other good ; both 
give information re- 
specting coming 
events, but obscurely, 
which they attribute 

Devil Worship. to their ° wn ig n °- 

rance,not understand- 
ing the devil's right meaning when matters turn out differ- 
ently. " For the spiritual they cared nothing ; but directed 

1 The belief of Maikans regarding the black otter or bear skins, which among 

separation of the soul, is, that it goes up them are signs of gladness. They have 

westward on leaving the body. There no desire to be with them. — Wassenaar. 
it is met with great rejoicing by the others 2 This dance of the Indians was called 

who died previously} there they wear kinte-kaying. It was observed on the 




OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



29 



their study principally to the physical, " closely observing the 
seasons." Their women were the most experienced star- 
gazers, scarce one of whom could not name them all, give the 
time of their rising and setting, their position, etc., in language 
of their own. Taurus they described as the horned head of a big 
wild animal inhabiting the distant country, but not theirs ; that 
when it rose in a certain part of the heavens, then it was the 
season for planting. The firmament was to them an open 
book wherein they read the laws for their physical well-being, 
the dial plate by which they marked their years. 

They were not without government and laws, although both 
partook of the nomadic state. They had chief and subordinate 
rulers, and general as well as local councils.. Their sachem was 
their local ruler and representative. Their general councils were 
composed of the sachems of different families or clans. But 
these councils assembled only in case of war, or other matters 
requiring concerted action. In all other respects the tribes or 
clans acted independently, and declared war and made peace 
without reference to their neighbors, unless the contest was 
such that assistance was desirable, in which case invitations to 
alliance were sent out by messengers. All obligations acquired 
their force from the acceptance of presents. In making agree- 
ments or sending messages they took as many little sticks as 
there were conditions or parties in their proposals/ If the con- 
tracting parties agreed on all, each party, at the conclusion, 
laid his presents at the feet of the other. If the presents be 
mutually accepted, the negotiation is firmly concluded, but if 
not, no further proceedings were had unless the applicant 
changed the conditions and the presents. On occasions of im- 
portance, a general assembly was held at the house of the chief 

eve of engaging in expeditions of war or governor of New York, concerning the 
hunting. When taken prisoners and belt and fifteen bloody sticks sent by the 
about to suffer torture, they asked permis- Missiosagaes, the like is very common, 
sion to dance the kinte-kaye. The and the Indians use sticks as well to ex- 
first dance witnessed by the Europeans press the alliance of castles as the number 
was by the savages assembled on the point of individuals in a party. These sticks 
of land just above Newburgh, which still are generally about six inches in length 
bears the name of Dans hammer , or and very slender, and painted red if the 
dance chamber. subject is war, but without any peculiarity 
1 "As to the information which you as to shape. — Documentary History of 
observe I formerly transmitted to the New York, iv, 437. 



30 



THE IN DUN TRIBES 



sachem in order that a full explanation might be made. At 
these assemblies the will of the sachem was supreme, for al- 
though permitting full debate, mutiny was punished by death. 

Lands held by them were obtained by conceded original 
occupation or by conquest. If conquered, original right ceased 
and vested in the conquerors ; if reconquered, the title returned 
to its original owners. This rule they applied also to the sale 
of lands to the Dutch. As often as they sold to the latter and 
subsequently drove off the settlers, so often was repurchase 
necessary., and, if it was not made, cause of grievance and 
future war remained. Some respect was paid to the rights of 
property, and whenever it was stolen, it was ordered returned. 1 
Although the reputation attaches that they were a " thieving 
set," yet the fact is that in almost every stated case the Dutch 
were the aggressors, the Indians only making reprisals for that of 
which they had been despoiled. 

Rank was known among them ; nobles, who seldom married 
below their rank, as well as a commonalty. 2 These conditions 
were hereditary, for although one of the commonalty might 
rise to prominence, the sachemship descended as long as any one 
was found fit to rule, and regents frequently governed in the 
name of a minor. The oldest or first of a household or family 
represented it " with or unto the chief of the nation." Military 
distinction was conferred by merit without regard to families or 
birth. The lowest might become a chief, but the rank died 
with its possessor, unless his posterity followed in his footsteps, 
in which case his titles were transmitted. Those of hereditary 
rank, however, were not esteemed, unless they were distin- 
guished for activity, bravery and understanding, and such they 
honored greatly. 

Their armies, or warriors, were composed of all their young 
men, among whom were even boys of fifteen, and were not 
without some of the forms of organization and discipline known 
to civilized nations. Each clan or canton had its war chiefs, 

1 " Notwithstanding misdemeanors are (stealing) too often, he is stripped bare of 

not punished, wicked acts are of rare oc- his goods." — Documentary History, iv, 

currence. Stolen property, whenever dis- 129; Wassenaar, Ib. y in, 44. 
covered, is ordered by the chief to be 8 " Though this people do not make such 

restored. If any one commit that offense a distinction between man and man as 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



31 



or captains, as the Europeans called them, 1 who stood in rank 
according to the services by which they had distinguished them- 
selves, the one highest in the qualifications of prudence, cunning, 
resolution, bravery, and good fortune, had powers equivalent 
to a commanding general. In times of war, the tribes were 
under rigid martial law ; nothing was done without the consent 
of the war captains ; no warrior could leave the troop without 
forfeiting his honor and the highly esteemed advantages of 
promotion. 

To begin a war was called " taking up the hatchet," and 
could not be done without what were regarded as the most 
just and important reasons. The death of a warrior at the 
hands of a neighboring tribe, was not always a cause for war. 
The murderer could be surrendered or the offense atoned by 
presents ; but when a warrior was killed and scalped, or when, 
as with the Mohawks^ the hatchet was left sticking in the head of 
the victim, it was regarded as a declaration of war. In such 
cases the war captains summoned their followers and addressed 
them : " The bones of your murdered countrymen lie un- 
covered ; they demand revenge at our hands, and it is our 
duty to obey them ; their spirits loudly call upon us, and we must 
satisfy them ; still greater spirits watching over our honor, inspire 
us with a resolution to go in pursuit of the murderers of our 
brethren. Let us go and devour them ! Do not sit inactive ! 
Follow the impulse of your hereditary valor ! Anoint your 
hair ! Paint your faces ! Fill your quivers ! Make the woods 
echo with your voices ! Comfort the spirits of the deceased, 
and revenge their blood ! " The work of preparation for 
the field was speedily performed ; the weapons of war were 
collected, a pouch of parched corn and maple sugar prepared, 
and the body painted black. Then came the war dance and 

other nations, yet they have high and low proportion to the number of troops under 
families; inferior and superior chiefs, his command. The rank of captain is 
whose authority remains hereditary in the neither elective nor hereditary. The 
houses. The military officers are dis- first occasion to this appointment is gene- 
posed of only according to the valorous rally a dream, early in life, which a young 
prowess of each person." — Documentary man or his friends interpret as a destiny 
History of New Tork, iv, 1 28. for the office of captain. He therefore 
1 A captain among the Indians, is what endeavors to attain the necessary qualifi- 
we should call a commander or* general, cations for this dignity, and to prove his 
He has several subordinate officers, in prowess by feats of valor. — Loskiel. 



32 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



war song ; 1 and the paths of the forest received the avenging 
horde, to return to peace only when compelled by necessity 
or the intervention of mediators. 

The ceremonies of war and peace were somewhat different 
when the alliance of one tribe with another was called. In 
such cases an embassy was dispatched bearing a piece of tobacco, 
a belt of wampum, and a hatchet with a red handle. The 
tobacco invited a friendly smoke and consideration, the belt 
described by certain figures the tribe against whom alliance was 
desired, and the hatchet determined the purpose. The princi- 
pal captain of the embassy made a speech, on delivering these 
credentials of his authority. If the belt was accepted, nothing 
more was said, that act being considered a solemn promise to 
lend every assistance ; but if neither the hatchet was lifted up 
nor the belt accepted, it was understood that the tribe would 
remain neutral. The consideration of the matter was usually 
circumspect and slow, and the decision regarded with no little 
reverence. 

The lives of prisoners taken in war were rarely spared, ex- 
cept those of women and children, who were treated leniently 
and adopted by their conquerors to recruit their numbers. 
Male prisoners were subjected to great torture, usually by fire, 
and a savage cunning indeed was practiced in prolonging the 
sufferings of the victims. The next of kin was an avenger 
and might inflict death on a murderer, provided he was enabled 
to do so within twenty-four hours. After the lapse of that 
time the avenger himself was liable to death if death came by 



1 Heckewelder gives the following as 
the war song of the Lenape warriors : 
*' O poor me ! 

Who am going out to fight the enemy, 
And know not whether I shall return 
again, 

To enjoy the embraces of my children 
And my wife. 
O poor creature ! 

Whose life is not in his own hands, 

Who has no power over his own body, 

But tries to do his duty 

For the welfare of his nation. 

O thou Great Spirit above ! 

Take pity on my children 

And on my wife ! 



Prevent their mourning on my account ! 
Grant that I may be successful in this 

attempt, 
That I may slay my enemy, 
And bring home the trophies of war 
To my dear family and friends, 
That we may rejoice together. 
O take pity on me ! 

Give me strength and courage to meet 

my enemy. 
Suffer me to return again to my children, 
To my wife ! 
And to my relations ! 
Take pity on me and preserve my life, 
And I will make thee a sacrifice." 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



33 



his hand. A murderer was seldom killed after the first twenty- 
four hours were passed, but he was obliged to remain concealed j 
meantime his friends endeavored to reconcile the parties, and 
offered a blood atonement of wampum. If peace was agreed 
upon it was usually accompanied by the condition that the 
nearest relatives of the murderer, whether men, women or child- 
ren, on meeting the relatives of the murdered person, must give 
way to them. But an offense unatoned was unforgiven, and, 
though years might elapse, vengeance was certain if opportunity 
offered. 

Great faults were charged against the Indians, and great 
faults they doubtless possessed when judged from the stand- 
point of a different civilization. Were the line strictly drawn, 
however, it might be shown that, as a whole, they compared 
favorably with nations upon whom light had fallen for sixteen 
hundred years. This at least appears to their credit, that 
among them there were none who were cross-eyed, blind, 
crippled, lame, hunch-backed or limping j all were well-fash- 
ioned, strong in constitution of body, well-proportioned and 
without blemish. Until touched and warped by wrong treat- 
ment, wherever they were met, whether on the Potomac, the 
Delaware, the Hudson, or the Connecticut, they were liberal 
and generous in their intercourse with the whites. More 
sinned against than sinning, they left behind them evidences of 
great wrongs suffered, their enemies being the witnesses. 



34 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



CHAPTER III. 

National and Tribal Organizations, Totemic Classi- 
fications, Political Relations, etc. 

HE names and location of the Indian tribes were not 
ascertained with clearness by the early Dutch 
writers. Wassenaar states that at the time of 
the discovery, and for some years after occupation 
by the Dutch, the Maikans or Mahicans, held twenty-five 1 
miles on both sides of the river in the vicinity of Fort Orange ; 
that the Maquas, or Mohawks, resided in the interior ; that 
Fort Orange was erected on the lands of the Mahicans, whose 
castle was on the opposite (east) side of the river. De Laet 
writes in 1625, that the Maquas held the west shore, and 
Wassenaar concludes with a similar statement ; but if it is 
considered that the history of the latter was written at different 
periods extending from 1621 to 1632, his account will be 
found entirely consistent with itself as well as with De Laet's. 
South of Fort Orange the classifications of these writers is 
almost wholly by chieftaincies or cantons. Van der Donck, 
writing twenty years later, does not appear to have obtained 
more definite knowledge than his predecessors. 

From information subsequently obtained, however, and es- 
pecially that furnished by treaties and other documentary papers, 
it would appear that at the time of the discovery the Mahicans 
held possession, under sub-tribal organizations, of the east bank 
of the river from an undefined point north of Albany to the sea, 
including Long Island ; that their dominion extended east to 
the Connecticut, where they joined kindred tribes ; that on the 
west bank of the Hudson they ran down as far as Catskill, and 
west to Schenectady ; that they were met on the west by the 
territory of the Mohawks, and on the south by chieftaincies 

1 Seventy-five English miles. 




OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



35 



acknowledging the supremacy of the Minsis, a totemic tribe of 
the Lenni Lenapes, and that the territory of the latter extended 
thence to the sea, and west to and beyond the Delaware river. 

Pending the early operations of the Dutch traders, this ori- 
ginal classification was somewhat changed. The Mahicans 
sold a considerable portion of their lands on the west side of 
the river to Van Rensselaer, retaining only a castle at Cohoes 
falls and one at Katskill, and admitted the Mohawks to territorial 
sovereignty north of the Mohawk river. Although the latter 
were not in possession by castles and villages, it may be ad- 
mitted that, practically, as early as 1630, three great divisions 
or nations were represented on the Hudson : The Iroquois, 1 
the Mahicans, and the Lenni Lenapes, or Delawares as they 
were more modernly known. The first of these nations, the 
Iroquois, was represented by a tribe called by themselves 
Kayingehaga ; by their enemies, the Mahicans, the Maquas ; by 
the Dutch, Makwaes; by the English, Mohawks, and by the 
French Agniers. The Iroquois Confederacy 2 was, at this 
time, composed of five tribes under the modern names of 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas and bore the 
title of Aquinoshioni or Konoshioni, that is, Cabin-makers, or 
People of the Long House, as applied to their territorial posses- 
sions and national organization. That " long house " subse- 
quently reached from the banks of the Hudson to the shores of 
Lake Erie, and from the Katskill range to the St. Lawrence — 
the Eastern door guarded by the Mohawks and the western by 
the Senecas. 

The traditions held by the Iroquois respecting their origin 
and confederate organization, 3 are that, like the Athenian, they 
sprung from the earth itself. In remote ages they had been 
confined under a mountain near the falls of the Osh-wah-kee, 

J The appellation, Iroquois, was first 9 Colder? s History of the Six Nations; 
applied to them by the French, because Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois ; Dun- 
they usually began and finished their dis- lap's Hist. New York • Yates & Moulton's 
courses or palaver with the word hiro, History New York} 0 1 Callaghari 's New 
which means either "I say," or "I have Netherland ; Brodhead' s New York, etc. 
said," combined as an affix with the word 8 The Iroquois tribes are classed by 
kong, an exclamation expressing joy or Gallatin in three divisions : eastern, 
sorrow according as it was pronounced western, and southern. The eastern con- 
long or short." — Garneau's History of sisted of the confederation known as the 
Canada. Five Nations, the western of the Wy- 



36 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



or Oswego river, whence they were released by Tharonhyjagon, 
the Holder of the Heavens. Bidding them go forth to the 
east, he guided them to the valley of the Mohawk, and follow- 
ing its stream they reached the Hudson, which some of them 
descended to the sea. Retracing their steps towards the west, 
they originated, in their order and position, the Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, six nations ; 
but the Tuscaroras wandered away to the south and settled on 
the Cautano, or Neuse river, in North Carolina, reducing the 
number to five nations. 

Each of the tribes thus originated was independent of the 
others, and warred with each other, as well as with the sur- 
rounding tribes. Tharonhyjagon still remained with the tribes ; 
gave them seeds of various kinds, with the proper knowledge 
for planting them ; taught them how to kill and roast game ; 
made the forests free to all the tribes to hunt, and removed 
obstructions from the streams. After this he laid aside his 
divine character and resolved to live with the Onondagas, that 
he might exemplify the maxims he had taught. For this pur- 
pose he selected a handsome spot of ground on the southern 
banks of the lake called Teonto, being the sheet of water now 
known as Cross lake. 1 Here he built a cabin, and took a wife 
of the Onondagas, by whom he had an only daughter, whom he 
tenderly loved, and most kindly and carefully treated and in- 
structed. The excellence of his character, and his great saga- 
city and good counsels, led the people to view him with venera- 
tion, and they gave him the name of Hi-a-wat-ha, signifying a 
very wise man. From all quarters people came to him for 
advice, and in this manner all power came naturally into his 
hands, and he was regarded as the first chief in all the land. 
Under his teachings the Onondagas became the first among all 
the original clans. They were the wisest counselors, the best 
orators, the most, expert hunters, and the bravest warriors. 

andots, or Hurons, and the Attiouanda- The Tuscaroras and Tutelos removed to the 

rons, or neutral nation, north, and the north, the former in 17 14 and the latter 

Erigas and Andastes, or Guandastogues in 1758, and were incorporated in the 

(Guyandots), south of Lake Eriej the Five Nations, the former becoming the 

southern, of the Tuscaroras, the Tutelos, sixth member of the confederacy, 

and the Nottowas, of North Carolina. 1 Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois i %"}^ 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



37 



Hence the Onondagas were early noted among all the tribes for 
'heir preeminence. 

While Hiawatha was thus living in quiet among the " people 
of the hills," the tribes were attacked by a furious and powerful 
enemy from the north of the great lakes. This enemy ad- 
vanced into the country and laid waste the villages, and 
slaughtered men, women' and children, until the people had no 
heart to oppose the invaders. In this emergency they fled to 
Hiawatha for advice, who counseled them to call together all 
the tribes from the east, and the west, " for," said he, " our 
safety is not alone in the club and dart, but in wise counsels." 
He appointed a place on the banks of the Onondaga lake for 
the meeting, and thither the chiefs, warriors, and head men 
forthwith assembled in large numbers, bringing with them their 
women and children. 

The council had been waiting for three days, but as yet 
Hiawatha was absent. Messengers were dispatched to hasten 
his attendance, but they found him gloomy and depressed. He 
told them that evil lay in his path, and felt that he should 
be called to make some great sacrifice ; nevertheless he would 
attend the council. The talismanic white canoe, in which he 
always made his voyages, and which the people had learned to 
reverence, was got out and Hiawatha and his daughter took 
their seats. Gliding silently down the deep waters of the 
Seneca, the canoe reached the outlet and entered on the placid 
Onondaga. As the canoe of the venerated chief appeared, he 
was welcomed with loud shouts ; but while he was measuring 
his steps towards the council ground, a long and low sound was 
heard, and instantly all eyes were turned upward, where a com- 
pact mass of cloudy darkness appeared, which gathered size and 
velocity as it approached, and appeared to be directed inevitably 
to fall in the midst of the assembly. Every one fled but 
Hiawatha and his daughter, who calmly awaited the issue. 
The force of the descending body was like that of a sudden 
storm ; and hardly had Hiawatha paused, when an immense 
bird, with long distended wings, came down, with a swoop, and 
crushed the daughter to the earth. The very semblance of a 
human being was destroyed in the remains of the girl, and the 



38 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



head and neck of the bird were buried in the ground from the 
force of the fall. 

Hiawatha was inconsolable for several days ; but at length 
took his place in the council and the deliberations opened. The 
subject of the invasion was discussed by several of the ablest 
counselors, and various plans proposed to foil the enemy. Hia- 
watha listened to the debate, and at its conclusion bade the 
warriors depart until the next day when he would unfold his 
plan, which he felt confident would, ensure safety. 

The council again met ; and with even more than ordinary 
attention the people listened to the words of their great chief. 
Hiawatha counseled them, that " to oppose these hordes of 
northern tribes singly and alone, would prove certain destruc- 
tion ; " that to oppose them successfully, the tribes must unite 
in " one common band of brothers," must have one voice, 
one fire, one pipe, and one war club. In the confederacy which 
he proposed should be formed, the several tribes were assigned 
the position they were to thereafter occupy ; and, in conclusion, 
he urged them to weigh well his words ; that if they should 
unite in the bond he had proposed, the Great Spirit would smile 
upon them, and they would be free, prosperous and happy ; but 
if they rejected it, they would be " enslaved, ruined, perhaps 
annihilated forever." 

The tribes received the address in solemn silence ; and the 
council closed to deliberate on the plan recommended. As- 
sembling the next day, the union of the tribes into one con- 
federacy was discussed and unanimously adopted. Pending this 
result, Hiawatha, warned by the death of his daughter that his 
mission was accomplished, prepared to make his final departure 
from earth. Before the council dispersed, he recounted the 
services he had rendered to his people, and urged them to pre- 
serve the union they had formed. " If you preserve this," said 
he, " and admit no foreign element of power, by the admission 
of other nations, you will always be free, numerous and happy. 
If other tribes and nations are admitted to your councils, they 
will sow the seeds of jealousy and discord, and you will become 
few, feeble and enslaved. Remember these words, they are 
the last you will hear from the lips of Hiawatha. The Great 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



39 



Master of breath calls me to go. I have patiently waited his 
summons. I am ready to go. Farewell." As his voice 
ceased, sweet sounds, from the air, burst on the ears of the 
multitude ; and while all attention was engrossed in the celestial 
melody, Hiawatha was seen, seated in his white canoe, in the 
mid-air, rising with every choral chant that burst out, till the 
clouds shut out the sight and the melody ceased. Every war- 
rior now plucked a feather from the great bird as a memorial, 
and took their departure. 1 

The precise date of the formation of the confederacy cannot, 
of course, be ascertained. Pyrlaus, a missionary among the 
Mohawks, states as the result of his investigations, that the 
alliance took place " one age, or the length of a man's life, 
before the white people came into the country." Another 
writer fixes the date at 1414 ; while a third confirms the state- 
ment of Pyrlaus. 2 Whatever may have been its date, it was a 
practical and effective alliance by which the democratic principle, 
which was the basis of the government of the cantons, was 
extended to the expression of the national will. The general 
head had few powers, but the determination of the tribes, in 
regard to matters in which they had a common interest, when 
announced from the general council at Onondaga, carried with 
it the united voice of an empire. The active government was 
confined to the tribes or cantons, which were independent states. 
Each had its own chiefs, civil and military, and its own council, 
and was represented in general councils by sachems exercising 
the power of delegates. These delegates, however, spoke the 
popular will of the tribes they represented, and to determine 
their action they were not permitted to approve any measure 
which the tribe had not endorsed by an unanimous vote. 
Indeed, the unanimous principle was the ruling one of the 
confederacy. Tribes might declare war and conclude peace, 
and exercise all powers of sovereignty on their own account, 

1 Schoolcraft s Notes, 278, etc. pelled to join it. Those two tribes were 

2 Schoolcraft's Notes, 118, 120, etc. the younger, and the three others the older 
"The time when the confederacy- was members of the confederacy." — Galla- 
formed is not known, but it was presumed tin. "The Oneidas^ and Cayugas are 
to be of a recent date, and the Oneidas their children." — Zinzendorf. 

and Cayugas are said to have been com- 



40 



THE IN DUN TRIBES 



but national or confederated action required the concurrence of 
all the tribes, and hence, when a decision was made, it was 
clothed with all the power of the most full popular will. 1 There 
was no female suffrage among them, and yet females had the 
power, by adoption, to rescue prisoners from death, and to com- 
mand a cessation of war. When so determined by the matrons, 
the braves returned from the conflict without compromiting the 
character of the tribe for bravery. But this feature in their 
customs was common to all the Indian nations. It remains to 
be shown that they had any forms of government peculiar 
to themselves. Their power was in their confederation, 
and in this they apparently differed from other nations only 
in the number of tribes and in the perpetuity of the organiza- 
tion, other nations securing the same results, in case of war, 
by temporary alliances. 

A view of their national council is furnished by Loskiel, who 
says that in 1745, Spangenberg, one of the Moravian bishops, 
spent several weeks at Onondaga, and frequently attended its 
sessions. " The council-house was built of bark. On each 
side six seats were placed, each containing six persons. No one 
was admitted besides the members of the council, except a few, 
who were particularly honored. If one arose to speak, all the 
rest sat in profound silence, smoking their pipes. The speaker 
uttered his words in a singing tone, always rising a few notes at 
the close of each sentence. Whatever was pleasing to the 
council was confirmed by all with the word nee, or yes. And 
at the end of each speech, the whole company joined in ap- 
plauding the speaker by calling hoho. At noon, two men 
entered, bearing a large kettle filled with meat upon a pole 
across their shoulders, which was first presented to the guests. 
A large wooden ladle as broad and deep as a common bowl, 
hung with a hook to the side of the kettle, with which every 
one might at once help himself to as much as he could eat. 

1 The difference between confederated feated. In 1763, Johnson did not class 

and tribal action has many illustrations the Senecas among the " friendly tribes," 

in the history of the times in which they and in 1775 t ^ le English were compelled 

took a conspicuous part. It became to resort to tribal alliances, in view of the 

very difficult indeed to secure unity of determination of the council in favor of 

action in favor of the English at different neutrality, 
times, and in 1755 it was entirely de- 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



41 



The whole was conducted in a very decent and quiet manner. 
Indeed, now and then one or the other would lie flat upon his 
back and rest himself, and sometimes they would stop, joke and 
laugh heartily." 

The second of the national divisions was the .Mahicans, 
called by the Dutch, Maikans, and, by the French missionaries, 
" the nine nations of Manhingans* gathered between Manhattan 
and the environs of Quebec." The several nations composing 
the confederacy have never been designated, although certain 
general divisions appear under the titles of the Mahicans, the 
Soquatucks, the Horicons, the Pennacooks, the Nipmuchs, the 
Abenaquis, the Nawaas, the Sequins, and the Wappingers, which, 
in confederated action, may be classed under the generic name 
of Abenaqui, or Wapanachki, that is, Men of the East. The 
representative nation of the confederacy on the Hudson, the 
Mahican, appears to have taken original position there, and to 
have sent out subduing colonies to the south and east, originat- 
ing other national combinations. To the noble stream upon 
which they were found by the Dutch they gave their name, the 
Mahicanituck ; and kindled their ancient council-fire at Scho- 
dac, opposite the site of the present city of Albany. To trace 
their movements prior to the discovery, tradition and theory 
must be blended. It may be presumed that in the course of 
the ages they seized the head waters of the Connecticut, the 
Housatonic, and the Hudson, and from their inland position 
rolled a savage horde upon the sea-coast, giving birth to the 
Pequots and the Narragansetts, 2 and from thence overrunning 
the tribes on the southern part of the peninsula of New York 
and the adjacent islands, and reuniting with the parent stock as 
one independent tribe in the position in which they were found 

1 Muhhekaneeiv is the orthography of planted by the English," that they, 
the original name as given by Dr. Ed- "being a more fierce, cruel, and warlike 
wards, for many years among them, people than the rest of the Indians, came 
The Dutch called them Mahikanders ; down out of the inland parts of the con- 
the French knew them as the Mouri- tinent, and by force seized upon the 
gans and Manhingansj the English as goodliest places, near the sea, and became 
the Mohiccons, Mohegans, Muhheeck- a terror to all their neighbors." — Indian 
anew, etc. Wars, 14. The relationship between 

2 Hubbard, referring to the Pequots, the Mahicans and Pequots is so conclu- 
says that it was " commonly reported, sively shown that one must have appa- 
about the time when New England was rently originated the other. 



42 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



by the Dutch under the names of Wappingers, Montauks and 
Mahicans. 

The tradition which the Mahicans give of their origin states : 
" The country formerly owned by the Muhheakunnuk nation, 
was situated partly in Massachusetts, and partly in the states of 
Vermont and New York. The inhabitants dwelt chiefly in 
little towns and villages. Their chief seat was on Hudson's 
river, now it is called Albany, which was called Pempotowwut- 
hut-Muhhecanneuw, or the fire-place of the Muhheakunnuk 
nation, where their allies used to come on any business whether 
relatif e to the covenants of their friendship or other matters. 
The etymology of the word Muhheakunnuk, according to 
original signification, is great waters or sea, which are constantly 
in motion, either ebbing or flowing. Our forefathers asserted 
that they were emigrants from west-by-north of another country j 
that they passed over great waters, where this and the other 
country are nearly connected, called Ukhkokpeck ; it signifies 
snake water or water where snakes are abundant ; and that they 
lived by side of a great water or sea, from whence they derive 
the name of Muhheakunnuk nation. Muhheakunneuw signifies 
a man of Muhheakunnuk tribe. Muhheakunneyuk is a plural 
number. As they were coming from the west they found many 
great waters, but none of them flowing and ebbing like Muh- 
heakunnuk until they came to Hudson's river ; then they said 
one to another, this is like Muhheakunnuk our nativity. And 
when *they found grain was very plenty in that country, they 
agreed to kindle a fire there and hang a kettle, whereof they 
and their children after them might dip out their daily refresh- 
ment. That before they began to decay, our forefathers in- 
formed us that the Muhheakunnuk nation could then raise about 
one thousand warriors who could turn out at any emergency." 1 

The government of the Mahicans was a democracy. They 
had a chief sachem, chosen by the nation, upon whom they 
looked as conductor and promoter of the general welfare. 
This office was hereditary by the lineage of the wife of the 
sachem ; that is, the selection of a successor, on the death of a 

1 Massachusetts Historical Society Collec- tradition bears the impress of the theories 
tionsj ix, 101. In some of its parts this entertained by the early missionaries. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 43 

sachem, was confined to the female branch of the family. The 
sachem was assisted by counselors, and also by one hero, one 
owl, and one runner ; the rest of the nation were called 
young men or warriors. The sachem, or more properly king, 
remained at all times with his tribe and consulted their welfare ; 
he had charge of the mnoti^ or bag of peace, which contained 
the belts and strings used to establish peace and friendship with 
different nations, and concluded all treaties on behalf of his 
people. The counselors were elected, and were called chiefs. 
Their business was to consult with their sachem in promoting 
the peace and happiness of their people. The title of* hero 
was gotten only by courage and prudence in war. When a 
war-alliance was asked, or cause for war existed with another 
tribe, the sachem and the counselors consulted, and if they 
concluded to take up the hatchet, the matter was put in the 
hands of the heroes for execution. When peace was proposed, 
the heroes put the negotiations in the hands of the sachem 
and counselors. The office of owl was also one of merit. 
He must have a strong memory, and must be a good speaker. 
His business was to sit beside his sachem, and proclaim his 
orders to the people with a loud voice ; and also to get up every 
morning as soon as day-light and arouse the people, and order 
them to their daily duties. The business of runner was to 
carry messages, and to convene councils. 1 

Precisely what relation the Mahicans of the Hudson sustained 
to the Mohegans under Uncas, is not known. Uncas, it will 
be remembered, was a Pequot chief, and as such occupied a 
district of country between the Thames and the Connecticut, 
called Mohegoneak. 2 After an unsuccessful conflict with the 
tribe to which he belonged, he fled, with some fifty of his 

1 Stockbridge, Past and Present. of New London, Groton and Stonington. 

a The Pequot and Mohegan country All the tract above this, as far north and 

lay to the south and east of the Nehan- east as has been described, was the Mo- 

ticks (in Lyme), from Connecticut river hegan country ; and most, if not all, the 

to the eastern boundary line of the co- towns held their deeds from Uncas or his 

lony, and north-east or north of its north- successors. Dr. Trumbull, in his History 

ern boundary line. This tract was of Connecticut, expresses the opinion, 

thirty miles square, and included the that the Pequots and Mohegans were one 

counties of New London, Windham, tribe and took their names " from the 

and the principal parts of the county of place of their situation." — Massachusetts 

Tolland. The Pequot country proper Historical Society Collections, ix, 79. 
was principally within the three towns 



44 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



followers, to Hartford, where he formed an alliance with the 
English in 1638. In the subsequent wars between the English 
and the Pequots, he remained faithful to the former, and, when 
the Pequots were blotted out as a nation, 1 received a portion of 
its survivors as his reward. He subsequently became one of 
the most powerful chiefs of the country, and the petted favorite 
of the English of Connecticut. Originally of the same stock ; 2 
controlled by the same traditionary hostility to the Mohawks ; 
influenced by the conflict for jurisdiction between the Dutch 
and the English to the Connecticut, it is not at all improbable 
*hat he was frequently found sustaining his brethren on the 
Hudson, and that they in turn recruited his numbers to some 
extent. 3 The organization under Uncas, however, was clearly 
distinct from that of the Hudson confederacy. 4 The latter 
were powerful in themselves, and in their recognized confede- 
rated allies, and successfully disputed the prowess of their 
Mohawk rivals. 

The third of the great divisions or confederations represented 
on the fjudson was the Lenni Lenapes, a name which they 
applied to themselves, and which has had various interpretations, 
among others, that of original people, and unmixed people. 5 
They were also called by [the generic name of Wapanachki, 



1 By the terms of peace which closed 
the Pequot war, that nation were not to 
live in their ancient country, nor be called 
by their ancient name, but to become 
Narragansetts and Mohegans. The 
name of their ancient river was changed to 
Thames, and their territory was to be con- 
sidered the property of the English. — Rhode 
Island Historical Society Collections, in, 1 77. 

2 "And the identity of name between 
the Mahicans of the Hudson and the 
Mohegans of East Connecticut, induces 
the belief that all those tribes belonged 
to the same stock." — Gallatin , 11, 34. 
" The Pequots and Mohegans were appa- 
rently originally of the same race with 
the Mohieans, Mohegans, or Mohican- 
ders, who lived on the banks of the 
Hudson." — De Forest's History of the In- 
dians of Connecticut. 

3 " Some Mahicanders are at Hertford 
in consultation with others the rivers and 
Northern Indians." — Col. Nichols, June 
25^ 1666; Colonial History, in, 117. 



4 This fact cannot be too distinctly 
recognized. The Mohegans were an 
exclusively Eastern Connecticut tribe and 
in alliance with the government of that 
province ; the Mahicans of New York 
differed from them in their dialect, in the 
territory which they occupied, and in 
their alliances ; having in the latter re- 
spect a nominal representation with the 
authorities of New York and a positive 
one with Massachusetts. The Mohegans 
of Connecticut were one of the very few 
tribes whose organization and subsequent 
history is a matter of record ; the Ma- 
hicans of the Hudson ante-date all human 
knowledge. 

5 " The term Lenafe," says Schoolcraft, 
" appears to carry the same meaning as 
inaba, a male, and the word was proba- 
bly used nationally, and with emphasis 
in the sense of men." " I have called 
them simply Lenape, as they do them- 
selves in most instances." — Heckeivelder. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



45 



or Men of the East. 1 Their territory extended from the 
Katskill mountains south to the Potomac, occupying the region 
watered by the Hudson, the Delaware, 2 the Susquehanna and 
the Potomac. The site of their ancient council-fire was at 
what is now Philadelphia, on the bank of the Lenapewihituk, 
or Delaware river ; Lenape, the term given to themselves, and 
ituk a geographical equivalent for the English word domain or 
territory. 3 

According to tradition 4 handed down from their ancestors, 
the Lenni Lenapes resided for many centuries in a very distant 
country, in the western part of the American continent. Hav- 
ing resolved to move eastward, they set out in a bocjy in search 
of a new home ; and after a long journey and many nights 
encampment, (i. e., halts of one year at a place), they reached 
the Namaesi Sipee (Mississippi), where they fell in with another 
nation, the Mengwe, or Iroquois, who had also emigrated from 
a distant country for the same purpose. The region east of 
the Mississippi was occupied by the Allevewi (Alleghany), a 
powerful and partially civilized people, having numerous large 
towns defended by regular fortifications and entrenchments. 5 



1 " These people are known and called 
by all the western, northern and some of 
the southern nations by the name of 
Wappanachki, which the Europeans 
have corrupted into Apenaki, Openagi, 
Abenaquis, and Abenakis. All these 
names, however differently written, and 
improperly understood by authors, point 
to one and the same people, the Lenape, 
who are by this compound word called 
People at the rising of the Sun, or as 
we would say Eastlanders 5 and are 
acknowledged by near forty tribes, whom 
we call nations. All these nations, de- 
rived from the same stock, recognize 
each other as Wappanachki, which 
among them is a generic name." — Hecke- 
iv elder. 

2 Their territorial possessions on the 
Hudson are clearly defined. Onderis 
Hocque, one of their chiefs, declared to 
the Esopus clans, at the treaty of 1660 : 
" Ye must not renew this quarrel. This 
is not your land; it is our land. There- 
fore repeat not this, but throw down the 
hatchet. Tread it so deeply in the earth 
that it shall never be taken up again." 



In the controversy in reference to the 
Hardenbergh tract, in 1769, one Dr. 
Shuckburgh stated that he was present at 
a conference in 1734, in which the chiefs 
of Schoharie, Seth and Hance, " told the 
Esopus or Delawares that if they ever 
attempted to sell lands west of the Kats- 
kill hills, they would kill them." An 
Oneida Indian, whose father was chief 
sachem of Oneida, " and their oracle in 
all matters of antiquity," heard his 
" father often say that the lands on the 
east of the Delaware was the property of 
the River Indians or Delawares." — John- 
son Manuscripts, xvn, 159. 

3 The capital of the nation was subse- 
quently removed to Shamokin, and from 
thence to Wyoming. 

4 No value whatever attaches to these 
traditions. That which is here recited 
gives to them a western origin, in face of 
their eastern name. 

6 " It is generally believed that the 
Allegeivi) or Alleghans y were of Welsh 
origin. This belief rests on the supposed 
voyage of Madoc to this continent in the 
twelfth century. The Welsh tradition is, 



46 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



In this country the Lenape, on their arrival, asked to settle. 
This request was denied by the Allegewi, but permission was 
granted to pass through the territory, and seek a settlement 
further eastward. No sooner had they commenced to cross 
the Mississippi, however, than the Allegewi, perceiving the vast 
numbers of the Lenape, furiously attacked them. The result of 
this treachery was a long and bloody war between the Lenape 
and their allies the Mengwe, on the one side, and the Allegewi 
on the other. The latter, after protracted contest, finding them- 
selves unable to make head against the formidable alliance, and 
that their very existence, as a distinct tribe, was threatened, 
abandoned their ancient seats and fled down the Mississippi, 
from whence they never again returned. Of course, their 
lands were divided by the conquerors. 

For a long period — some say for several centuries — the 
Mengwe and Lenape dwelt in peace together, and both nations 
rapidly increased in numbers. At length some of the more 
enterprising of the Lenape huntsmen and warriors crossed the 
mountains, pursued their travels near to the great salt-water lake 
(Atlantic), and discovered the great river (Delaware). Going 
on still further eastward through the Sheyickbi country, they 
came to another great stream (the Hudson). On their return 
home they gave so flattering an account of the excellence and 
richness of the regions thus discovered, as to induce the general 
belief that this was the land which the Great Spirit designed for 

that Madoc's company landed on some occupy the foreground of our remote 
part of New England or Virginia, and in aboriginal history, were a valiant, noble 
process of time spread over a great part of and populous race, who were advanced in 
America. The investigations showing arts and the policy of government and 
the existence of white people in the valley raised fortifications for their defense, 
of the Mississippi, and that they were of which are extended over the entire Mis- 
Welsh origin, are very interesting. This sissippi valley, as high as latitude 43 0 , 
people spoke the Welsh language to a and the lake country, reaching from Lake 
considerable extent, and claimed Welsh St. Clair to the south shore of Lake On- 
origin. For more than a century and a tario, and the country of the Onondagas 
half, the existence of this people in the and Oneidas." — Schoolcraft. Priest traces 
interior of our country, has been traced." — the Allegewi from the lake country to 
Yates and Moulton. " They occupied a the " vale of Mexico, where they finally 
large portion of the western 'area of the and permanently rested," and where they 
State of New York, comprising the valley assumed the name of Aztecas, or people 
of the Alleghany river to its utmost source, of the lakes. The course of migration 
and extending eastwardly an undefined is marked by the mounds where they 
distance. Our authorities do not leave " rested," or dwelt temporarily on their 
us in doubt, that this ancient people, who journey. — American Antiquities. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



47 



their permanent abode. Though emigrating at first in small 
numbers, the great body of the nation at last settled on the four 
great rivers, Delaware, Hudson, Susquehanna and Potomac, and 
kindled their council-fire in the centre of their possessions. 
Here they became so numerous that their descendants were 
compelled to separate from them in branches, so that nearly 
forty tribes honored them with the title of grandfather a title 
which some of them continue to apply to the present day. 2 

In the government of the Lenapes the perfect liberty of the 
people was the fundamental law, and absolute unanimity the 
only recognized expression of the popular will. A more per- 
fect system of checks and balances the wisdom of civilized 
nations has not devised. They were divided in thcee tribes, the 
Unami, the Unalachto, and the Mimi, or the Turtle, the Turkey, 
and the Wolf. Each tribe had its chief and each chief his 
counselors, the latter composed either of experienced warriors 
or aged and respectable fathers of families. In times of peace 
nothing cotild be done without the consent of the council 
unanimously expressed. The chiefs were required to keep 
good order, and to decide in all quarrels and disputes ; but they 
had no power to. command, compel, or punish ; their only mode 
of government was persuasion and exhortation, and in departing 
from that mode they were deposed by the simple form of for- 
saking them. The constant restraint which they were under 
made them, in general, the most courteous, affable and hospita- 
ble of men. Their legislative hall was usually in a building 
provided for that purpose ; the counselors were called together 
by a servant ; in the centre of the room a large fire was kindled, 
and tobacco, pipes, and provisions provided, and the matter 
under consideration disposed of after alternate smoking, eating 
and deliberation, but with the utmost gravity. 

In national matters the chief of the Unami was first in rank 
and constituted the head or king. For this reason, while he 
must be a member of that tribe, the selection of his successor, 
in case of his death, was made by the ruling chiefs of the other 

1 The tribes acknowledging this relation appellation of Noochivissak or my grand- 

addressed the Lenni Lenapes with the children. — Yates and Moulton. 
title of Mochotnes, that is to say, their 2 Schoolcraft admits that there is some 

grandfather, and were received with the reason to acquiesce, " to a certain extent," 



48 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



tribes. He was required to maintain the peace and covenants 
with other nations, and to that end to carry on a kind of corre- 
spondence with them that he might always be acquainted with 
their disposition towards his people. He also sent out embassies, 
with the advice and consent of the other chiefs. He was liable 
to removal in case of neglect of duty, or for suffering any of 
his people to commit offenses which might involve the nation in 
war. If, after being admonished of his duty he was still neg- 
lectful of it, he was forsaken and his power was at an end. 
National councils were a duplication of tribal councils, except 
that they were composed of representatives selected by the 
chiefs and counselors of the tribes and their assemblage held at 
the capital. -In times of war the powers of the civil government 
were suspended. A chief could not declare war without the 
consent of his captains, nor could he accept a war-belt except 
to transmit it to them, and finally, the captains could not declare 
war unless by unanimous assent. When war was formally 
declared, the care of the people passed into the hands of the 
captains. When terms of peace were proposed, civil govern- 
ment was resumed ; the chief again took his place ; the captains 
placed the proposals in his hands, and he had power to accept 
or reject them. If he accepted the proposals, he took the 
hatchet from the hands of the chief captain, and desired him 
to sit down. This constituted a truce, and was followed by the 
appointment of embassadors to conclude a treaty. All the 
proceedings were accompanied by the gravest demeanor, and 
the most impressive dignity. " No stranger could visit their 
councils without a sensation of respect." 

Law and justice, as civilized nations understand those terms, 
were to them unknown, yet both they had in a degree suited to 
their necessities. Assaults, murders, and other acts regarded 
as criminal offenses by all nations, were so regarded by them, 
but the execution of punishment was vested in the injured 
family, who were constituted judges as well as executioners, 



in both the claim to antiquity and their 
ancient position, in the great Algonquin 
family of the Lenapes. He says : " It 
is believed that there are no members of 
this generic family of tribes, certainly 



none of the existing tribes in the north 
and west, who are known to us personally, 
who do not acknowledge the ancient Le- 
napes under the title of grandfather." 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



49 



and who could grant pardons or accept atonements. The rights 
of property they understood and respected ; and half their wars 
were retaliatory for the taking of their territory without making 
just and proper compensation. There was not a man among 
them that did not know the bounds of his own land as accu- 
rately as though defined by a surveyor's chain. Their customs 
were their unwritten laws, more effective than those which fill 
the tomes of civilized governments, because taught to the people 
from infancy and woven into every condition and necessity of 
their being. Their chiefs were poor and without revenue, yet 
the treasury of the nation was never exhausted. A more perfect 
democracy will never exist among the nations of the earth, and 
in this respect it was distinguished from the government of the 
Iroquois, the latter more nearly resembling a fepublic from the 
greater number of tribes represented in national councils, but in 
other respects scarcely presenting a single contrasting feature. 

The names given to the Lenape tribes were from their totems. 
Each Indian nation was not only divided into tribes and chief- 
taincies or family clans, but had peculiar totemic classifications. 
Totems were rude but distinct devices or family symbols, denot- 
ing original consanguinity, and were universally respected. 
They were painted upon the person of the Indian, and again 
on the gable end of his cabin, " some in black, others in red." 
The wandering savage appealed to his totem, and was entitled to 
the hospitality of the wigwam which bore the corresponding em- 
blem. They had other and various uses, but the most important 
was the representation which they made of the tribe or family 
to which they belonged or were made the emblems. The 
Iroquois had nine, forming two divisions, one of four tribes 
and the other of five. Of the first division the emblems were 
the Tortoise, the Wolf, the Bear, and the Beaver. The 
second division, and subordinate to the first, were the Deer, the 
Potatoe, the Great Plover, the Little Plover, and the Eagle. 
The Mohawks were represented by the totem of the Bear. 1 
The Lenni Lenapes had three totemic tribes : the Turtle, or 

1 The Mohawk sachems who presented bear you know never yields while one 

their condolence at Albany, in 1690, on drop of blood is left. We must all be 

the taking of Schenectady, said : " We bears." — Schoolcraft. 
are all of the race of the bear, and the 



50 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Unami ; 1 the Turkey, or Unalachto, and the Wolf, or Minsi. 
The totems of the Mahicans were the Bear, 2 the Wolf, and the 
Turtle. The Turkey and Turtle tribes occupied the sea- 
coast and the south-western shore of the Hudson, while the 
Wolf or Minsi, being much the most warlike of the three, 
served as a sort of shield to their more peaceful brethren, and 
watched the movements of the Mengwe or Iroquois. Their 
territory extended from "the Katskill mountains to the head 
waters of the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and was 
bounded on the east by the Hudson ; their council-fire was 
lighted at Minisink. 3 The Turkey tribe joined the Minsi on 
the south somewhere about Stony point. On the west bank 
of the river, therefore, there were but two totemic Lenape tribes. 
Above the Minsi came the Mahican totem of the Wolf, and on 
the east bank the Bear of that nation. Below the Mahicans 
from RoelofF Jansen's kill to the sea, the Wolf again appeared 
as the totem of the Wappingers ; while the Montauks bore the 
emblem of the Turtle. 4 The prevailing totem of all the 
Hudson river cantons was the Wolf, borne alike by Minsis, 
Wappingers and Mahicans , 5 leading the French to call them all 
Loups or wolves, and affording Mr. Schoolcraft the basis for his 



1 " The Turtle tribe, among the Len- 
apesy claims a superiority and ascendancy 
over the others because of their relation 
to the great tortoise, a fabled monster, 
the Atlas of their mythology, who bears, 
according to their traditions, this great 
island, as they term the world, on his 
back j and also superior because he is 
amphibious." — Yates and Moultons His- 
tory. Politically the Turtle and Turkey 
tribes were associated in the same govern- 
ment, while the Minsis had a distinct 
organization. 

2 " The Bear 1 tribe was considered the 
leading totem and entitled to the office 
of chief sachem." — Mahican Tradition. 
They appear to have been in occupation 
in the vicinity of Albany. 

3 The location was about ten miles 
south of Maghackemek, in the present 
state of New Jersey. " The third tribe, 
the Wolf, commonly called the Minsi, 
which we have corrupted into Monseys, 
had chosen to live back of the two other 
tribes, and formed a kind of bulwark for 



their protection, watching the motions of 
the Mengtue, and being at hand to afford 
their aid in case of rupture with them. 
The Minsi were considered the most 
warlike and active branch of the Lenape. 
They extended their settlements from 
the Minisink, a place named after them, 
where they had their council seat and 
fire, quite up to the Hudson j and to the 
west, or southwest, far beyond the Susque- 
hanna ; their northern boundaries were 
supposed originally to be the heads of 
the great rivers Susquehanna and Dela- 
ware, and their southern boundaries that 
ridge of hills known in New Jersey by 
the name of Muskanecum, and in Penn- 
sylvania, by those of Lehigh, Coghnewago, 
etc." — Heckeivelder. 

4 The classification is not positive. 
There were other than the Turtle totem 
on the island. 

6 " Mohegan is a word, the meaning of 
which is not explained by the early writ- 
ers ; but if we may trust the deductions 
of philology, it needs create little uncer- 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



51 



argument that the name of the Mahican confederacy was from 
its prevailing totemic emblem. 

For dividing the territory of the Mahicans at Roeloff Jansen's 
kill, and again at Long Island, there is other than totemic au- 
thority. In regard to ' the former, the affidavit of King Nim- 
ham is on record, under date of October 13, 1730, in which it 
is stated that the deponent was "a River Indian of the tribe of 
the Wappinoes, which tribe was the ancient inhabitants of the 
eastern shore of Hudson's river, from the city of New York to 
about the middle of Beekman's patent," in the northern part of 
the present county of Dutchess j " that another tribe of River 
Indians called the Mayhiccondas were the ancient inhabitants 
of the remaining eastern shore of said river ; that these two 
tribes constituted one nation." The testimony in regard to the 
Montauks is not so clear and positive, but is sufficiently so to 
indicate their status at the time of the discovery, whatever may 
have been their subsequent political relations. On the earliest 
maps the island is assigned to the Mahicans. DeRasieres, 
writing in 1626, states that its occupation was then by the "old 
Manhattans," and intimates that they were conquered "by the 
Wappenos." While all the eastern Indians were called Wap- 
penos, 1 or Wapenacki, the reference, in this instance, is 
clearly specific, not general, and evidently refers to the Wappinoo 
or Wappinger branch of the Mahicans, who, whatever may have 

tainly. In the Mohcgan, as spoken at wolf, or a wolf of supernatural power, 

the present time by their lineal descend- This was the badge of arms of the tribe, 

ants, the Stockbridges of Wisconsin, rather than the name of the tribe it- 

Maihtshoiv is the name of the common self." — Schoolcraft. Compare with the 

wolf. It is called, in the cognate dialects statement of Capt. Hendrick, quoted 

of the Algonquin, Myegah by the Kenis- ante, p. 42. 

tenos, and Myeengun by the Chippewas, 1 Their various tongues may be classed 
etc. In the old Algonquin, as given by into four distinct languages, namely, Man- 
La Hontan, it is Mahingan, and we per- hattan, Minqua, Savanoo and Wappanoos. 
ceive that this was the term adopted by With the Manhattans we include those 
the early French writers for the Mohe- who live in the neighboring places along 
gans. The term itself, it is to be under- the North river, on Long Island, and at 
stood, by which the tribe is known to us, the Neversink ; with the Minquas, we 
is not the true Indian, but has been include the Senecas, the Maquas, and 
shorn of a part of its true sound by the other inland tribes. The Savanoos are 
early French, Dutch and English writers, the southern nations and the Wappanoos 
The mode/n tribe of the Mohegans, to the eastern. — Van der Donck, N. V. Hist. 
whom allusion has been made, called Soc. Coll., 2d Series, 1, 206; Wassenaar, 
themselves Muhhekanieiv. * * Mohegan Doc. Hist., ill, 46. 
was a phrase to denote an enchanted 



52 



THE IN DUN TRIBES 



been their origin, seized the southern part of the peninsula and 
adjacent islands, and established themselves in the Highlands. 
Long anterior to Nimham's affidavit, however, the Montauks 
were severed from the Mahicans, and became tributaries to the 
Dutch and to the English. 

The original supremacy of the Iroquois Confederacy is 
assumed by almost every writer of Indian history. "From 
their ancient fortresses," says one of their ardent but not alto- 
gether truthful admirers, "war parties continually went forth ; 
their war-cry sounded from the lakes to the far west, and rolled 
along the banks of the Mississippi and over the far-off fields of 
the south. They defeated the Hurons under the very walls of 
Quebec, put out the council-fires of the Gabkwas and the 
Eries, 1 eradicated the Susquehannocks 2 and placed the Lenapes, 
under tribute. The terror of their name went wherever their 
war canoes paddled, and nations trembled when they heard the 
name of Konoshioni." Another asserts that "long before 
European discovery, the question of savage supremacy had been 
settled on the waters of the Cahohatatea ; " that the " invinci- 
ble arms " of the Iroquois " humbled every native foe." In 
view of the undeniable fact that there is not a single well- 
attested case of subjugation by the Iroquois until nearly half a 
century after " European discovery," these fulsome panegyrics 
may very properly be subjected to analysis. 

While conceding to the Iroquois, and to their immediate 
representative on the Hudson, the Mohawks, much of the credit 
which has been claimed for them, justice to other nations will 
compel the acknowledgment that the former were aided in their 
conquests and preserved in their integrity to a very great extent 
by their early alliances with the Europeans, and especially by 
their constitution, by the English of New York, as an armed 
police over the unarmed tribes ; and further, that there is scarce 
a recorded conquest by them that is not tinged by the unmis- 

1 The Eries were seated on the southern been the same with the Eries ; by others 

shores of the lake which still bears their that they were subsequently known as 

name. We only know that they were the Hurons. — Schoolcraft. 

an Iroquois tribe, and that they were de- 2 The Susquehannocks were seated on 

stroyed in 1655. — Gallatin. The Gab- the Susquehanna river and Chesapeake 

kivas, or Kakkzvahs, were also an Iroquois bay. They were defeated, in conflict 

tribe, and are supposed by some to have with the English, at their fort near Co- 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



53 



takeable fact that the subjugated tribe was contending against 
civilized as well as savage foes. In their early wars the Dutch 
took no part, except to exchange for their furs the munitions of 
war which they wanted, and to cultivate with them, for the pur- 
poses of trade, peace and friendship. To both, this friendly inter- 
course was desirable, and to both a necessity. When the 
English came in possession of the province, the wars in which 
the Indians had taken part and were then engaged, the alliances 
which they had formed with the French, and the positions which 
they respectively occupied, made an alliance with the Iroquois 
but the perfection of a condition of things which had had the 
growth of over half a century, and which were destined to still 
further development. 

This fact appears more clearly in connection with contempo- 
raneous events. The settlement of Canada was commenced 
in 1604, under a patent granted by Henry IV to Pierre du Gast. 
In 1609, the year in which Hudson ascended the Mahicanituck, 
Champlain discovered the lake which now bears his name. At 
this- time the Mohawks were at war with the northern tribes, 
and by the mere force of the circumstances under which he 
was placed, he formed an alliance with the latter, even agree- 
ing to assist them against their enemies. The first result of 
this alliance was at a meeting of war parties of the Mohawks 
and Hurons on Lake Champlain at which the former were 
defeated, mainly perhaps by the power of the French arque- 
buses. 1 From that period the tide of Algonquin success rolled 



lumbia, with the loss of several hundred 
warriors, and in this weakened state were 
conquered by the Oneidas and incorpo- 
rated with that tribe. When they had 
forgotten their language they were sent 
back to the Susquehanna and became 
known as the Conestogas.— Gallatin. 

1 This battle was fought on the morn- 
ing of the 30th July, 1609. Champlain 
with four of his men, and accompanied 
by some 200 Hurons, were engaged in 
exploring Lake Champlain, when a party 
of hostile Mohawks appeared. As the In- 
dian practice was against fighting on the 
water, both parties hurried to the shore, 
where they pitched for battle. The Mo- 
hawks hastily entrenched themselves with 
trees " at the point of a cape which runs 



out into the lake from the west side." 
By agreement, hostilities were suspended 
until the next morning, when the Hurons 
led the attack. Running to within two 
hundred feet in front of their enemy, 
they stopped and divided into bands on 
the right and left, leaving Champlain and 
his men in the centre. The sudden ap- 
pearance of the Frenchmen, and the 
peculiarity of their arms, produced extreme 
astonishment in the Mokaivk ranks ; but 
what was their dismay when the first 
report of the arquebuses fell upon their 
ears, and they beheld two of their chiefs 
fall dead and a third dangerously wounded. 
The contest was of short duration. The 
Mohawks broke and fled. Many were 
killed, and some taken prisoners. Not 



54 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



along the northern frontiers of the Iroquois, and carried terror 
into the ranks of the Onondagas. 1 Obtaining arms and powder 
from the Dutch, the confederacy recovered its position, and in 
turn harassed the French and their Indians in wars which were 
yet open when the jurisdiction of the Dutch was exchanged for 
that of the English. 

That the Dutch were neutrals is evident from their treaties 
with the Indians. Their first settlement was among the Mahi- 
cans at what is now Albany, and their intercourse was mainly, 
if not entirely, with that nation until 1623, when it is stated, the 
Mahicans, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, 
as well as the " far off Ottawa Indians," came " and made cove- 
nants of friendship " with them, bringing to commander Joris 
" great presents of beaver and other peltry, and desired that they 
might come and have constant free trade with them, which was 
concluded upon." 2 It is not to be presumed that the nations 
named were present at one time, for they were not at peace 
with each other ; there is no mention made by the Dutch histo- 
rians of any acknowledgment of subjugation by any of the tribes, 
so minutely described in one of the early histories of New York, 3 
and accepted apparently without examination by subsequent 
writers. The deducible fact is that none of the tribes were 
granted special privileges, and that there was not the slightest 
distinction made between them in the terms of the compact. 

During the difficulties with the Indians in the vicinity of 
Fort Amsterdam in 1645, it is said that Director Kieft visited 
Fort Orange and made a treaty with the Mohawks and Mahi- 
cans by which their friendship was secured. Although O'Cal- 
laghan 4 magnifies the consequence of the Mohawks in this trans- 
action, and assumes that their " name alone, inspired terror 
among all the tribes west of the Connecticut ; over whom they 
claimed to be sovereign, and from whom they exacted tribute," 

one of the Hurons was killed ; and they so graphically described in the story of 

celebrated their victory on the field of Hiawatha. 

battle in dancing and singing. — Yates and 2 Wassenaar, vil, 1 1 ; Doc . Hist., in, 

Moulton. 35, 51. 

1 The incursions of the French explor- 8 Yates and Moulton 's Hist. New York, 

ing parties may have been *the very 346, 347. 

44 northern hordes," to resist whom the 4 Hist. New Netherlands 1, 355. 
confederation was formed in the manner 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



55 



his statements are defeated by the association of the Mahicans 
in the treaty, by the facts which he subsequently quotes, and by 
the whole tenor of contemporaneous history. In 1659, the 
Mohawks visited Fort Orange for the first time to ask special 
favors, and the first visit to them, in an official capacity, was 
made by the Dutch soon after. There is nothing in the pro- 
ceedings of either conference which establishes any other fact 
than that the Mohawks desired an accommodation which the 
Dutch were willing to grant only to an extent that should 
prevent the alliance of the former with the tribes then 
threatening hostilities. In 1660, they were included in the 
peace at Esopus, but neither in its negotiation nor its terms 
was there distinction made between the parties to that treaty. 
Three years later Stuyvesant distinctly refused to employ them. 
The advantage to the Iroquois from their treaty of free trade 
was great, but it was made so only by the bar which their proxi- 
mity to Fort Orange interposed to the supplying of other nations 
with whom they were at war. 

The treaty between Nicolls, on the part of the English, and 
the Iroquois, was one of necessity. With the Mahicans the 
English were already in treaty ; with the Iroquois alone they 
had none. Nothing was changed by it, but the change which 
subsequently came was due to other causes, and those causes 
precisely what they were a hundred years later. It required 
more than half a century to develop the result of the opposing 
French and English Indian alliances, even admitting that the 
result was practically determined on this continent. The war 
between the French Indians and the Iroquois at the north was 
one of alternate successes and reverses, with positive advantages 
undetermined ; but at the south, where the French alliance was 
without power, the Lenapes, Minsis, Susquehannas, Andastes* 
and other tribes became tributary to their ancient enemies. 
With the progress of the French in the west, and the gathering 

1 Note 3, ante p. 35. Raffeix, the Brodkead, n, 193. The wars of the five 

French missionary, writes, in 1672: nations against their own kindred, as in 

" God preserve the Andastes, who have the case of the Andastes, Eries, etc. y are 

only three hundred warriors, and bless one of the unexplained passages in their 

their arms to humiliate the Iroquois and history, 
preserve to us peace and our missions." — 



56 



THE INDIAN 7TIIBES 



thither of tribes retreating before the civilization which was 
rolling upon them, the condition of even the subjugated tribes 
improved, while the integrity of the Iroquois Was compromised. 
What the French lacked in position they made up in zeal, and 
pushed their priests and their fire-arms together. Their success 
was far greater than the English could wish. The Mohawks 
were shorn of an entire canton of converts ; the flower of the 
Mahicans became the trophies of the priests ; the Senecas, who 
could call out more warriors than their four associate tribes 
combined, were detached almost entirely, two small villages only 
retaining their allegiance to the English. A hundred years of 
war and diplomacy gave the French a very strong position, and 
correspondingly elevated the tribes with which they were in 
alliance. The English were compelled to dictate the removal 
of the petticoat from the Lenapes, while the Mohawks were 
reduced to numbers comparatively insignificant, notwithstanding 
the efforts made to recruit them. How the contest would have 
ended had the French remained in possession of Canada 
and the west, cannot be assumed ; but the presumption is not 
unreasonable, that, while the English may not have been 
swept out of possession, the prowess of the Algonquins would 
have been chanted where now the notes of applause embalm 
the memory of the Iroquois. 

The inquiry has its specific form in the alleged subjugation 
of the Mahicans and in the period assigned to the subjugation 
of the Lenapes as having been anterior to the advent of the 
Europeans. The Mahicans were the most formidable com- 
petitors of the Iroquois. Equal in courage, equal in numbers, 
equal in the advantages of obtaining fire-arms from the Dutch 
and in their subsequent alliance with the English, they marched 
unsubdued by the boasted conquerors of America. When 
the Dutch first met them they were in conflict with the Mohawks, 
and that conflict was maintained for nearly three-quarters of a 
century, and until the English, who were in alliance with both, 
were able to effect a permanent settlement. Gallatin, writing 
upon this subject, says: "Judge Smith, in his History of 
New York, published in 1756, says, that 'When the Dutch 
began the settlement of this country, all the Indians on Long 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



57 



Island and the northern shore of the sound, on the banks of 
Connecticut, Hudson's, Delaware, and Susquehanna rivers, 
were in subjection to the Five Nations, and, within the memory 
of persons now living, acknowledged it by the payment of an 
annual tribute : " He gives no authority for the early date he 
assigns to that event. The subsequent protracted wars of the 
Dutch with the Manhattan and the Long Island Indians, and 
the continued warfare of the Mohawks against the Connecticut 
Indians, are inconsistent with that account, which is clearly 
incorrect with respect to the Mohikander River Indians, or 
Mahicans. These are mentioned by De Laet as the mortal 
enemies of the Maquas. It was undoubtedly the interest of 
the Dutch to promote any arrangement, which, by compelling 
the Mahicans to remain at peace, would secure their own trade. 
If they succeeded at any time, the peace was but temporary. 
W e learn from the Relations of the French missionaries, that 
war existed in 1656, between the Manhingans and the Mohawks, 
and that these experienced a severe check in 1663, in an attack 
upon a Manhingan fortified village, and Colden admits that the 
contest was not at an end until 1673. 'The trade of New 
York,' he says, 6 was hindered by the war which the Five 
Nations had at that time with the River Indians ; ' and he adds 
that the governor of New York ' obtained a peace between 
the Five Nations and the Mahikanders or River Indians.' 1 It 
is also certain that those Mohikander or River Indians were 
not reduced to the same state in which the Delawares were 
placed. It is proved by the concurring accounts of the French 
and English writers, that, subsequently to the peace of 1673, 
they were repeatedly, indeed uniformly, employed as auxiliaries 
in the wars of the Five Nations and the British against the 
French." 2 

This conclusion is not only abundantly sustained by the 
records referred to, but by an analysis of the testimony which 
has been relied upon as indicating an opposite result. The 
latter is confined, first, to traditionary reverses sustained by the 
Mahicans on Wanton island, near Katskill, and at Red Hook, 
in Dutchess county, the bones of the slain at the latter place 

1 Colden s Six Nations, chap, il, 35- 2 Gallatin's Indian Tribes, n, 43, 44. 



58 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



being, it is said, in monumental record when the Dutch first set- 
tled there ; and second, to the statements by Michaelius and 
Wassenaar. The traditionary evidence is entirely worthless as 
to the results involved, and at best can only be accepted as 
proof of sanguinary conflicts ; while the statements by Michael- 
ius and Wassenaar, based as they were on information received 
from others, are almost wholly at variance with positive records. 
The former writer states that in the war of 1626, the Mohawks 
were successful and that the Mahicans fled and left their lands 
unoccupied ; 1 the latter affirms that " war broke out " again in 
1628, fcC between the Maikens, near Fort Orange, and the Mak- 
waes" and that the former were beaten and driven oflF. 2 Ad- 
mitting that both writers refer to the same occurrence, and that 
there is no conflict in date, the retirement spoken of could only 
have included a single canton or chieftaincy. That the Mahi- 
cans, as a nation, did not leave their lands unoccupied nor sur- 
render their possession, appears from the title deeds which they 
gave to Van Rensselaer in 1630, the validity of which was 
never questioned ; from the treaty made with them by Kieft, 
and from their participation in the wars with the Dutch at Fort 
Amsterdam. To these facts it may be added that deeds from 
King Aepjin show that his council-fire was kept burning at 
Schodac 3 as late as 1664 ; that one of the castles of the nation, 
that at Cohoes, was in occupation by them as late as 1660, and 
that the records of the commissioners of Indian affairs show an 
organization, distinct from that which was recognized by Mas- 
sachusetts but clearly subordinate to it, for over half a century 
after the English succeeded the Dutch in the government. 

It only remains to harmonize these facts with the statements 
referred to. That, as already intimated, a canton or chieftaincy 

1 "The business of furs is dull 'on ac- but these beat and captured the Maikans 

count of a new war of the Maechibaeys and drove off the remainder, who have 

(Mohawks) a'gainst the Maikans at the retired towards the north by the Fresh 

upper end of this river. There have river, so called, where they begin to 

occurred cruel murders on both sides, cultivate the soil j and thus the war 

The Maikans have fled and their lands terminated." — Wassenaar, Documentary 

are unoccupied, and they are very fertile History, m, 48. 

and pleasant." — Michaelius, Colonial His- 3 It is not certain that Schodac was the 

tory, 11, 769. original capital of the nation. The pro- 

a " In the beginning of this year (1628) babilities are that it was, and that it was 

war broke out between the Maikans, subsequently removed to Westenhuck, in 

near Fort Orange, and the Mohawks, the valley of the Housatonic. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 59 

of the nation retired from the west bank of the river at or about 
the time spoken of by Michaelius and Wassenaar, is not only 
probable, but its movements can apparently be traced and the 
territory which it " left unoccupied " very nearly defined. The 
explanation is found in the title deeds which were subsequently 
given by the tribes who were parties to the conflict. Their 
examination shows that the Mohawks only claimed the right of 
conquest over lands north of the Mohawk river and in part par- 
ticularly embraced in the Kayaderossera patent. South of the 
Mohawk river they never either claimed or sold lands on the 
Hudson, and even north of that-point their claim, although tra- 
ditionally conceded, was subsequently disputed. 1 Whatever 
may have been the extent of the territory which they claimed, 
however, it is apparent that it was limited and that it did not 
include or extend to the east side of the river, nor involve the 
subjugation of the nation. The retiring canton was an advanced 
post on the frontiers, pushed forward, it may be reasonably 
supposed, by superior prowess, and maintained until peculiarly 
exposed. The point to which it removed is not positively 
stated ; 2 but the evidence is sufficient to indicate pretty cer- 
tainly that it was known as the Soquatucks or Socoquis^ in the 
alliances of 1664, and in the subsequent history of the nation. 

If there is no evidence of prior subjugation, there is certainly 
none establishing that condition after the advent of the English. 
The nation was almost continually in conflict with the Mohawks, 
and in its last war with them maintained itself with success. A 
more extended reference to this war and its results may be pro- 
per. The eastern Indians were involved in the contest as well 

2 It is asserted that the Mahicans ad- Col. Hist., ix, 475), does not correspond 

mitted the conquest of the lands west of with their assignment " towards Lake 

the Hudson embraced in the Saratoga Champlain, "(/£., 795), or with the very 

(Schuylerville) tract ; yet from the John- plain statement by Talon : " Two Indian 

son Manuscripts it appears that they tribes, one called the Loups (Mahicans) 

claimed them in 1767, to " the prejudice," and the other the Socoquis, inhabit the 

as Johnson says, "of Mohaivk rights." — country adjoining the English, and live, 

Johnson Manuscripts, iv, 170, 173. in some respect, under their laws, in the' 

3 Wassenaar says, " towards the north same manner as the Algonquins and 

near the Fresh river." Hurons do under those of his majesty. 

8 BrodhcacTs Hist., 1, 732; Col. Hist., I perceive in these two tribes, by nature 

ix, 66. Probably called Soquatucks from arrant and declared enemies of the Iro- 

Soquans, or Suckquans, their chief sachem, quois, a great inclination to reside among 

Their classification as Saco Indians (note the French." After King Philip's 



60 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



as the Mahicans. 1 - In 1662, Director Stuyvesant succeeded in 
establishing peace between the contestants, but when the Mo- 
hawks carried presents to the English fort at Penobscot to 
confirm the same, they were attacked and slain. 2 The con- 
nection of the Hudson river chieftaincies with the war which 
followed cannot be distinctly traced, but there is some data 
upon the subject. In Kregier's 'Journal of the Second Esopus 
War, it is said that residents at Bethlehem, in the present 
county of Albany, were warned, in the fall of 1663, by a 
friendly Indian, to remove to a place of security ; that " five 
Indian nations had assembled together, namely the Mahikan- 
ders, the Katskills, the Wappingers, those of Esopus, besides 
another tribe of Indians that dwell half-way between Fort 
Orange and Hartford ; " that their " place of meeting was 
on the east side of Fort Orange river, about three (nine) miles 
inland from Claverack," 3 and that, they were " about five 
hundred strong." Again : " Hans the Norman 4 arrived at 
the redoubt with his yacht from Fort Orange ; reports that full 
seven thousand Indians had assembled at Claverack, on the 
east side, about three (nine) miles inland, but he knows not with 
what intent." 5 The intent soon became apparent. Under date 
of June 21, 1664, Brodhead writes: "War now broke out 
again. The Mahicans attacked the Mohawks, destroyed cattle 
at Greenbush, burned the house of Abraham Staats at Clave- 
rack, and ravaged the whole country on the east side of the 
North river." The operations of the Jesuit missionaries were 
seriously hindered ; prisoners taken on either side were burned 
or eaten ; the Mohawks were weakened and their pride humbled. 
Such were the results of the war at the close of 1668. 6 

In the spring of 1669, a Mohawk embassy visited Quebec, 
and asked that their nation might be " protected from the Mahi- 

war, a portion of them appear to have Mohegans, who had been joined by the 

returned to the Hudson, where they were Ahenaqui nations. — Sheas Charlevoix, in, 

incorporated with the Mahicans at Scha- 45 ; Drake" 's Book of the Indians. 

ticook. The greater portion, however, 2 Brodhead 1 s New York* 1, 73a. 

ultimately found their way to Canada, 3 The village of Claverack was five 

where, with fragments of other tribes, miles from the Hudson. It was known 

they were known as the St. Francis by the Indian name of Potkoke. 

Indians. — Doc. Hist., 1, 27 j Col. Hist., 4 Norman's kill, in Albany, takes its 

in, 482, 562; iv, 684, 715. name from this person. 

1 On the other hand, war was raging 5 Documentary History, iv, 83, 85. 

furiously between the Mohawks and the 6 Brodhead, 11, 99, 146. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



61 



cans by the king of France, to whom their country now 
belonged by the force of arms." In this they were successful 
so far at least as to secure the cooperation of the Jesuit mission- 
aries in resisting an attack by the Mahicans on the palisaded 
village of Caghnawaga. This attack was made on the eighteenth 
of August, 1669. The Mahicans retired after two hours 
fighting ; and the Mohawks, descending the river in canoes, hid 
themselves below them in an ambuscade which commanded the 
road to Schenectady, at a place called Kinaquariones, where a con- 
flict ensued in which, although at first successful, the Mohawks 
were put to flight. 1 The Mohawks then induced the Oneidas, 
Onondagas and Cayugas to make common cause with them ; and 
four hundred confederate warriors went to surprise a Mahican fort 
" situated near Manhattan." But this enterprise failed, and the 
Iroquois returned home with two wounded. 2 In April, 1670, 
Governor Lovelace visited Albany, charged, among other things, 
with the duty of making peace between the Mohawks and Ma- 
hicans ; but it was not until August of the succeeding year that 
the negotiations were consummated. 3 What the terms of peace 
were is not stated, and can only be inferred from the subsequent 
treatment of the tribes who were parties to it, who are described 
as being " linked together in interest," and who were uniformly 
treated as equals even in the selection of representative chiefs 
to visit England. At no stage of their history are they repre- 
sented as the dependents of the Five Nations. This will more 
fully appear from their connection with the wars with the Dutch, 

1 Drake states that the Mahicans and chosen leader. This was a severe stroke, 

their allies marched into the Mohawk and although the war continued, it was 

country, led by the principal sachem of not with that spirit in which it had been 

Massachusetts {Pennacooks ? ) named commenced." 

Josiah, alias Chekatabut, a wise man, 2 BrodheatTs New York, n, 161. 
and stout man of middle stature. After * Assize Record, n, 732; Brodhead's 

a "journey of two hundred miles," they New York, n, 181. Colden says that 

arrived at the Mohawk fort, " when, upon peace was not established until 1673. 

besieging it some time, and having some The following entry is made in Assize 

of their men killed and sundry others Record, iv, 116: "March 7, 1671. 

sick, they gave up the siege and retreated. Mendowasse, sagamore from Hackinsack, 

The Mohawks pursued them, got in their Anmanhose from Haverstroo, Meggen- 

front, and from an ambush, attacked maiker, sagamore of Tappan, in behalf 

them and a great fight ensued. The of themselves and Neversincks, having 

Mohawks were finally put to flight by understood that peace had been made 

the extraordinary bravery and prowess of between the Maquas and Mahikanders, 

Chekatabut and his captains ; but victory asked permission to visit, etc." 
was purchased by the death of their 



62 THE INDIAN TRIBES 

their treaties with the English and their official relations with 
the governments of New York and Massachusetts. 

That the Mahicans experienced great changes is unquestioned. 
To a considerable extent their position involved this. Though 
spared on the north and east, they were exposed to the incom- 
ing civilization on the west and south. The W appingers suffered 
terribly in their wars with the Dutch : from the rapacity of the 
traders at Fort Orange they recoiled. If their national council- 
fire was originally at Schodac, it was subsequently removed to 
the valley of the Housatonic, 1 where, under the name of 
W-nahk-ta-kook, it was known to the authorities of Massa- 
chusetts and to the English missionaries ; under that of Wes- 
tenhuck, to the Moravians, and under that of Stockbridge, 
preserved the line of kings and linked the past with the present 
history of the nation. 3 To the English of New York, however, 
this council-fire was little known. Cut off by the boundary 
line of Massachusetts it was officially recognized by that province, 
while the authorities of New York maintained their official 
relations with an organization which is represented as existing 
"above and below Albany," and known as the Mahicander 
or River Indians. This organization was strengthened by the 
results of King Philip's war. In that war the Pennacooks 3 had 
taken part, and at the close of the campaign of 1675, found 
winter quarters among their kindred w near Albany." After 
the disastrous conflict of August 12th, of the succeeding year, 
in which Philip was killed, they again retreated " towards 
Albany," some two hundred and fifty in number, but were pur- 
sued and attacked by the English, near the Housatonic river, 
and a number of them killed. The main body of them, how- 
ever, made good their retreat to the Hudson, where a portion of 

1 The Housatonic was originally known to the merciless cruelty of the French 

as the Westenhook river, south of Wes- and their Indians." — Colonial History, n, 

tenhuck. — (Sauthier'"s Map). It was 371. 

the boundary line of the neutrality which 3 Stockbridge, Past and Present, 39 j 

was established by the Iroquois and the History of Missions of United Brethren, 

Mahicans with the French Indians in 11, 56, 115, 130$ Memorials Moravian 

the war of 1704. "The inhabitants of Church, 1, etc. 

this Province who lived on the west side ' The Pennacooks, Schoolcraft says, 

of that river followed all their occupa- " occupied the Coos country, extending 

tions in husbandry as in times of peace, from Haverhill to the sources of the 

while at the same time the inhabitants of Connecticut." The French classed them 

New England were in their sight exposed among the Mahican tribes, and such they 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



63 



them remained near the Dutch village of Claverack, and the 
remainder, some two hundred in number, passed over to Pottck, 
an old Mahican village at Katskill. 1 The French immediately 
made overtures to them, through their associates who had found 
refuge in Canada, and Connecticut invited them to homes within 
her borders. Governor Andros, with equal promptness and 
from a similar motive, 2 invited them to settle at Schaticook, in 
the present county of Rensselaer, near the confluence of the 
Hoosic with the Hudson, in company with the Mahicans who 
were established there. This offer was accepted and a flourish- 
ing colony soon came into existence, which was patronizingly 
called by the Mohawks, our children. 

The historical narrative need not be further anticipated. In 
passing, however, it may be remarked that it cannot be admitted 
that while " the Pequots and Mohegans claimed some authority 
over the Indians of the Connecticut, those extending west- 
wardly to the Hudson appear to have been divided into small 
and independent tribes, united, since they were known to the 
Europeans, by no common government," as stated by Gallatin. 
That conclusion was based upon information less perfect than 
that which has since been obtained, and not only so but is in 
conflict with the previous findings of that author. There was 
nothing in their action inconsistent with the clearly understood 
powers of chieftaincies ; but much that implies obligation to 
national authority. The entire peninsula south of the Highlands 
was under the sovereignty of the Wappingers, as a tribal division 
of the Mahicans, and the offenses of the Dutch were resented 
by the nation and the tribe. As early as 1622, the imprison- 
ment of the chief of the Sequins aroused the Mahicans to that 
extent that the offending agent of the Dutch was compelled to 
leave the country ; in the war of 1643, the Dutch were sur- 
prised to find their boats attacked above the Highlands, by 
Indians with whom they were ignorant of ever having had any 

appear to have been from the statements 1 Hubbard's Indian Wars^ 94, 98, 

of Gov, Moore and others pending the 188 ; Colonial History, iv, 902, etc. ; 

efforts to secure their removal to the Brodhead's Neiv Tork, 11, 294. 

Hudson river after their disastrous defeat a The Indians began to have a value 

in the war under King Philip. At the in the hands of the French as well as the 

time of the discovery they were a powerful English. To both parties they were the 

tribe. — Schoolcraft's Ind. Nat. t v, 222, etc. most effective soldiers that could be pro- 



64 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



difficulty, and subsequently the Indian fortresses of the High- 
lands became the receptable of Dutch prisoners. The Dutch 
knew very little of tribal organizations or tribal laws. To each 
village they gave the dignity of a tribe, and undertook to hold 
with them separate covenants. The Mahicans made a very 
wide distinction between the Dutch at Fort Orange and those 
at Fort Amsterdam, and it was not until Kieft made his treaty 
with them in 1645, that he had peace. With the subsequent 
crumbling up of the clans more exposed to European influences, 
and the debris which remained after the retirement of their 
more active members, the result was the same in all parts of the 
country, whether Mahicans, Lenapes, or Mohawks. 

In considering the political relations of the Lenapes they 
should be regarded as the most formidable of the Indian con- 
federacies at the time of the discovery of America, and as hav- 
ing maintained for many years the position which subsequently 
fell to the Iroquois, rather than as having been subjugated by the 
latter anterior to the advent of the Europeans. Their tradition 
that they were " the head of the Algonquin 1 nations, 2 and held 
the Mengwe in subjection," is not without confirmation. The 
precise time at which the latter condition was reversed, cannot 
be stated ; but the causes leading thereto are now pretty cor- 
rectly ascertained. Their long house was invaded alike 
by the Europeans and the Iroquois, with special advantages to 
the latter in position, and in the facility with which they could 
obtain arms. 3 The tradition which they gave of their subjuga- 

cured. The great error of Massachusetts 2 " The Dela wares were the head of all 

was the war which she made upon them, nations. All nations except the Mingoes 

as she subsequently learned. and their accomplices, were united with 

1 " The primitive language which was them and had free access to them ; or in 

the most widely diffused, and the most their own words, according to their figu- 

fertile in dialects, received from the rative manner of expressing themselves, 

French the name of Algonquin. It was the united nations had one home, one fire, 

the mother tongue of those who greeted and one canoe." — Heckewelder. 

the colonists of Raleigh at Roanoke, of 3 " Clean across this extent of country 

those who welcomed the Pilgrims at Ply- (namely from Albany to the Potomac), 

mouth. It was heard from the Bay of our grandfather had a long house, with a 

Gaspe to the valley of the Des Moines, door at each end, which doors were always 

from Cape Fear, and, it may be, from open to all the nations united with them, 

the Savannah, to the land of the Esqui- To this house the nations from ever so 

maux j from the Cumberland river of far off used to resort, and smoke the pipe 

Kentucky to the southern bank of the of peace with their grandfather. The 

Mississippi." — Bancroft, in, 237. white people coming from over the great 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



65 



tion is that the Iroquois, finding the contest in which they were 
engaged, too great for them, as they had to cope on the one 
hand with the French, and on the other with native prowess, 
resorted to a master stroke of intrigue. They sent an embassy 
to the Lenapes with a message in substance as follows : That 
it was not well for the Indians to be fighting among themselves 
at a time when the whites, in even larger numbers, were press- 
ing into their country ; that the original possessors of the soil 
must be preserved from total extirpation ; that the only way to 
effect this was a voluntary assuming, on the part of some mag- 
nanimous nation, of the position of the women or umpire ; 
that a weak people in such a position would have no influence, 
but a power like the Lenapes, celebrated for its bravery and 
above all suspicion of pusillanimity, might properly take the 
step ; that, therefore, the Aquinoshioni besought them to lay 
aside their arms, devote themselves to pacific employments, and 
act as mediators among the tribes, thus putting a stop forever to 
the fratricidal wars of the Indians. 

To this proposition the Lenapes listened cheerfully, and trust- 
fully consented ; for they believed it to be dictated by exalted 
patriotism, and to constitute the language of genuine sincerity. 
They were, moreover, themselves very anxious to preserve the 
Indian race. At a great feast, prepared for the representatives 
of the two nations, and amid many ceremonies, they were accord- 
ingly made women, and a broad belt of peace entrusted to their 
keeping. The Dutch, so the tradition continues, were present 
on this occasion, and had instigated the plot. That it was de- 
signed to break the strength of the Lenapes soon became evident. 
They woke up from their magnanimous dream, to find them- 
selves in the power of the Iroquois. From that time they were 
the cousins of the Iroquois, and these were their uncle. 1 

While this tradition bears the impress of theory upon a sub- 
ject in regard to which little was known, and while it is much 

water, unfortunately landed at each end powerful, assisted the common enemy, 

of this long house of our grandfathers, the Maquas, in erecting a strong house 

and it was not long before they began to on the ruins of our grandfathers." — Rela- 

pull the same down at both ends. Our tion by an aged Mahican, given by Hecke- 

grandfather still kept repairing the same, welder 

though obliged to make it from time to 1 Life and Times of David Zeisberger y 

time shorter; until at length the white 45,46. 
people, who had by this time grown very 



66 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



less clear than that already quoted, as from a Mahican, it is not 
wholly unsupported. The Lenapes did, to a very considerable 
extent, act in the capacity of mediators, and the Dutch traders 
did no doubt have part in terminating the hostilities between 
them and the Iroquois. It is a singular fact, too, that of all the 
nations subjugated by the Iroquois, the Lenapes alone bore the 
name of women. While the council-fires of other nations 
were " put out," and their survivors merged in the confederacy, 
that of the Lenapes was kept burning, and their civil govern- 
ment remained undisturbed. The proposition, however, is that 
both of the results stated were in accordance with the terms 
of the peace which the English government negotiated, and not 
of prior Iroquois diplomacy. 

The historic causes leading to the subjugation of the Lenapes 
is to be found in the circumstances and position of the nation, 
as compared with the Iroquois ; the one with territory invaded by 
Europeans at different points, the other assailed only on one 
border by the French, against whom they were sustained by 
" free trade " with the Dutch and by subsequent more positive 
alliance with the English. To the establishment of the lord- 
ship and manor of Rensselaerswyck, and its village of Beaver- 
wyck, the Iroquois were primarily indebted for their subsequent 
position in the family of Indian nations. That manor was 
organized under an independent charter with powers not delegated 
to the West India Company at Fort Amsterdam, especially in 
the matter of the sale of fire-arms to the Indians. At its trad- 
ing-houses arms could be had for furs ; there the doors were 
open to the Mohawks and the Mahicans, who guarded well the 
special advantages which they enjoyed. These advantages were 
great ; the former were enabled by them to push their conquests, 
the latter to maintain independence. This is clearly deducible 
from the records which were made by the Dutch, in connection 
with the wars at Fort Amsterdam in 1643, 1 m which it is said 
that the traders from Rensselaerswyck, " perceiving that the Mo- 
hawks were craving for guns, which some of them had already re- 
ceived, paying for each as many as twenty beavers, and for a pound 
of powder as many as ten or twelve guilders, came down to Fort 

1 Journal of Neiv Netherlands Doc. Hist., iv, I, etc. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



67 



Amsterdam, in greater numbers than usual, where guns were 
plenty, purchasing them at a fair price, realizing in this way- 
considerable profit. This extraordinary gain was not long kept 
secret. The traders coming from Holland soon got scent of it, 
and from time to time, brought over great quantities, so that 
the Mohawks, in a short time, were seen with fire locks and 
powder and lead in proportion." The record continues : " Four 
hundred armed men knew how to make use of their advantage, 
especially against their enemies, dwelling along the river of 
Canada, against whom they have now achieved many profitable 
forays where before they had but little advantage. This caused 
them also to be respected by the surrounding Indians even as far 
as the sea-coast, who must generally pay them tribute ; whereas, 
on the contrary, they were formerly obliged to contribute to these. 
On this account the Indians, in the vicinity of Fort Amsterdam, 
and as the record elsewhere shows, especially the Minsis of 
New Jersey and the Delaware, " endeavored no less to procure 
guns, and through the familiarity which existed between them 
and the people " at New Amsterdam, " began to solicit the 
latter for guns and powder, but as such was forbidden on pain 
of death, and could not remain long concealed in consequence 
of the general conversation, they could not be obtained. This 
greatly augmented the hatred which stimulated them to con- 
spire against us, beginning first with insults which they every- 
where indiscreetly uttered, railing at us as materiotty, that is to 
say cowards.'' 

" In regard to the time at which the subjugation of the Lenapes 
took place or was acknowledged, there is wide divergence in 
statement. Smith's assertion that it was prior to European 
occupation, is generally denied j while Brodhead's assumption 
that it was in 1617, is without foundation in contemporaneous 
or subsequent facts. Nor could subjugation have been as early 
as 1643 or 1645, when Kieft made his treaty with the Mohawks 
and Mahicans, for the Swedes were then supplying the Minsis 
with arms. In 1660, the latter, through their chief, could 
declaim to their dependents at Esopus, in the presence of the 
Mohawk embassador, " this is not your land ; it is our land, 



68 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



therefore repeat not this," 1 and no Mohawk chief ever made 
utterance with more authority. A terrific contest was then 
raging between the Senecas and the Minsis, and the former came 
to Fort Orange and demanded, by virtue of the treaty of Esopus 
(1660), a higher price for their furs. " We require, said they, 
sixty handsful of powder for one beaver. We have a vast deal 
of "trouble collecting beavers through the enemy's country. 
We ask to be furnished with powder and ball. If our ene- 
mies conquer us, where will ye then obtain beavers ? " Direc- 
tor Stuyvesant, so the record says, replied by giving them a keg 
of powder, but entreated them to make peace with the Minsis 
so that the Dutch might " use the road to them in safety." 
Three years later the Dutch were in terrible alarm. A body 
of six hundred Senecas attacked the fort of the Minsis on the 
Delaware, and were put to flight and pursued northward for 
two days. Unable to cope with them single-handed, the Sene- 
cas solicited the aid of the Mohawks, and with them continued 
the struggle. The transition of the province from the Dutch 
to the English found the contest undecided, and not only so 
but the Mohawks expressly asking the English to make peace 
" for the Indian princes with the nations down the river," 2 as 
they had pleaded with the governor of Canada for protection 
against the Mahicans. In a letter from Governor Lovelace, 
February 24, 1665, it is said that negotiations for peace were 
then pending between the Esopus Indians, the South Indians, 
and the Novisans, on the one part, and the Senecas and Mohawks 
on the other, and that the magistrates of Ulster were directed to 
encourage the same ; and under date of August 13, 1669, the 
same officer writes that " Perewyn lately made sachem of 
Hackinsack, Tappen, and Staten Island," had visited him " to 
renew and acknowledge the peace between them and the Christ- 
ians ; also, between them and the Maquas and Sinnecas, the 
which they say they are resolved to keep inviolable." He 
ordered that the matter be " put on record to be a testimony 
against those that shall make the first breach." 3 It was about 
this time that tradition gives the story of a great battle between 



1 O'Callaghans New Nether land, n, 2 Colonial History, hi, 67. 
417. 8 Assize Reeords, n, 408. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



69 



the contestants in the Minnisink country, and the probabilities 
are that the peace spoken of was its result. But whatever the 
date, the Minnisinks, a north-western family of the Minsis, as 
well as the Tappans, were under the obligations of subjugation 
in 1680, for Paxinosa or Paxowan as he was sometimes called, 
sachem of the former, was required to furnish forty men to join 
the Mohawks in an expedition against the French. 1 In 1693-4, 
these tribes paid tribute to the Senecas. 2 The inference is that 
if the peaqe which was made with the Minsis 3 was not made 
until after the English came in possession of the province, that 
the subjugation of the Lenapes did not take place at an earlier 
period. 

And this conclusion agrees with the almost infallible test of 
title to lands. The Iroquois never questioned the sales made by 
the Lenapes or Minsis east of the Delaware river, but only 
asserted the rights acquired by conquest in accepting, in 1743, 
the clearly false boundaries which the proprietaries of Pennsyl- 
vania had given to lands which had been purchased from the 
Lenapes in 1686. Whatever tkle the Iroquois had could not 
have been acquired when this sale was made. The findings of 
Gallatin in this particular are confirmed by all the title deeds 
in New York and New Jersey. In New Jersey the Minsis 
were paid for lands which they held prior to subjugation long 
after actual subjugation had taken place and possession ceased, 
for the simple reason that they were not conquered lands. In 
whatever aspect the question is considered, the same result is 
reached. 

That the subjugation of the Lenapes was complete, there is 
no denial. The famous speech of Canassatiego, at Philadelphia, 
in 1742 : "We conquered you, we made women of you ; you 
know you are women ; we charge you to remove instantly ; 
we don't give you liberty to think about it," is" not more conclu- 
sive than the admission of Tedyuscung : " I was styled by my 
uncles, the Six Nations, a woman, in former years, and had no 

1 Council Minutes, Aug. 7. were the same persons who appeared at 

3 Colonial History, iv, 98. Esopus in 1660. The treaty which was 

8 The terms Minquas, Minsis, Monseys, concluded by the one was concluded by 

and Munsies are convertible. The Min- the other. 

quas who sold lands on the Delaware 



70 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



natchet in my hand but a pestle or a hominy pounder." But 
through the thick gloom which shrouds the history of their sub- 
jugation, through all the degradation and reproach which was 
heaped upon them as " a nation of women," there runs a thread 
of light revealing their former greatness, pleading the causes of 
their decay, promising that their dead shall live again. Not in 
the eternal darkness which shuts in the Eries is that light lost, 
but from its prison house breaks in brilliancy, redeeming the 
past, and wringing from their ancient subjugators,* shivering 
under adverse fortune, the greeting — Brothers. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



71 



CHAPTER IV. 

Analysis of Tribes and Chieftaincies. 

ASSENAAR and De Laet supply the earliest account 
of the subtribal divisions, or chieftaincies of In- 
dians occupying the valley of the Hudson. The 
former writes : " Below the Maikans are situate 
these tribes : Mechkentowoon and Tappents, on the west side ; 
Wickagjock and Wyeck, on the east side. Two nations lie there 
lower down at Klinkersberg. 1 At the Fisher's Hook 2 are the 
Pachany, Warenecker, JVarrawannankoncks. In one place, 
Esopus, are two or three tribes. The Manhates are situated at 
the mouth." The latter corrects the geography of his prede- 
cessor and gives the location of what he calls tribes 3 more 
accurately. Commencing at New York, he says : " On the 
east side, on the main land, dwell the Manhattans, a bad race 
of savages, who have always been very obstinate and unfriendly 
towards our people. On the west side are the Sanhickans, who 
are the deadly enemies of the Manhattans, and a much better 
people. They dwell along the bay, and in the interior. The 
course of the river is north-east and north-north-west according 
as the reaches extend. Within the first reach, on the west bank 
of the river, where the land is low, dwell the Tappans. The 
second reach of the river extends upwards to a narrow part 
named by our people Haverstroo ; then comes the Seylmaker's- 
reach, as they call it, and next a crooked reach, in the form of 
a crescent, called Kock's-reach. Next is Hoge-reach j and 
then comes Vossen-reach, which extends to Klinkersberg. 
This is succeeded by Fisher's-reach, where on the east side of 
the river, dwell a nation of savages named Pachami. This 
reach extends to another narrow pass, where on the west, is a 

1 The first title given to Butter Hill. of the Matteawan creek. 
8 The bend in the river opposite New- 3 A tribe was an union of families, but 
burgh, forming a hook by the confluence as here used designated families. 




72 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



point of land that juts out 1 covered with sand, opposite a bend 
in the river, on which another nation of savages, the Waora- 
necks, have their abode at a place called Esopus. A little be- 
yond on the west side, where there is a creek and the river 
becomes more shallow, the Warranawankongs dwell. Next 
comes another reach called Klaverack ; then comes Backerack, 
John Playsier's-rack, and Vaste-rack as far as Hinnenhock. 
Finally the Huntenrack succeeds as far as Kinderhook; further 
onareSturgeon's-hookand FisherVhook, over against which, on 
the east side dwell the Mahicans" 

Van der Donck, who wrote thirty years later, places the 
Manhattans on the island, and above them Indian villages w 7 hich 
he names Saeckkill, Wickquaskeck, Alipkonck, Sin-Sing, Kestau- 
buinck, Keskisikonck, Pasquuasheck, and Noch-Peem, south of and 
in the highlands. On the south side of Wappinger's kill he 
locates three villages under the general name of W aoranecks, 
and above them and occupying both sides of the river south of 
the " Groote Esopus R.," he places the Wappingers. On the 
west side he locates the Neve-Sincks opposite Staten Island, 
then the Raritans ; opposite Manhattan Island, Haverstroo; 
below Verdrietigehoeck, the Tappans ; between Murderer's 
creek and the Dans-Kammer, the Waranwankongs ; then the 
Wappingers, and west of the Esopus, the general title of " Min- 
nessinck of te PLandt von Bacham." 

Were the question of location left to these writers and to the 
early maps, the inquiry might well be abandoned as hopeless. 
Fortunately, however, Indian treaties and title deeds supply 
information which, though still imperfect, 2 enables a division of 
territory and location of subtribes to be made with tolerable 
accuracy. From these sources the following classifications are 
mainly derived : 

I. The chieftaincies of the Montauks were : 

1st. The Carnarsees, who claimed the lands now included in 
the county of Kings, and a part of the town of Jamaica. 

1 Dans-Kammer point. water, etc., which were and still are 
a "There being no previous survey to the known to very few Christians. Some- 
grants, their boundaries are expressed with times the grant is of the land that be- 
much uncertainty, by the Indian names longed to such an Indian by name, or is 
of brooks, rivulets, hills, ponds, falls of bounded by such an Indian's land, but to 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



73 



Their principal village was about the site of the village of Flat- 
lands, where there is a place which still retains the name of 
Canarsee, and was, perhaps, the residence of the sachem. This 
chieftaincy was of considerable power in 1643, when it stood 
at the head of the Long Island tribes who were engaged in the 
war with the Dutch. Penhawitz was the first sachem known 
to the Dutch, by whom he was styled the Great Sachem of 
Canarsee. The names of the chiefs in 1670, as given in a 
deed for the site of the present city of Brooklyn, were Peter, 
Elmohar, Job, Makagiquas, and Shamese. 

2d. The Rockaways^ who were scattered over the southern 
part of the town of Hempstead, which, with a part of Jamaica 
and the whole of Newtown, constituted the bounds of their 
claim. Their main settlement was at Near Rockaway. The 
first sachem known to the Dutch was Chegonoe. Eskmoppas 
appears to have been sachem in 1670, and Parnau in 1685. 

3d. The Merricks, Merokes, or Merikokes, as they have been 
denominated, who claimed all the territory south of the middle 
of the island, from Near Rockaway to the west line of Oyster 
bay. Their principal village was the site of the present' village 
of Merick, Their sachem in 1647, was Wantagh. 

4th. The Marsapequas or Marsapeagues, who had their settle- 
ment at a place called Fort Neck, and thence eastward to the 
bounds of Islip and north to the middle of the island. At 
Fort Neck the remains of two Indian forts were recently still 
visible. One was upon the most southerly point of land ad- 
joining the salt meadow, nearly of quadrangular form and about 
thirty yards in extent on each side. The other was on the 
southernmost point of the salt meadow adjoining the bay, and 
consisted of palisades set in the meadow. The place is now 
covered with water. The chieftaincy was prominent in the 
war of 1643 and suffered severely. After this they appear to 
have been on friendly terms with the Dutch ; and in the Esopus 
war of 1663, contributed forty-six men to Kregier's forces. 1 

prove that any particular spot belonged to be proved with positive accuracy. In 

any particular Indian, I believe is beyond hundreds of old surveys the hills, streams, 

human skill, so as to make it evident to etc., by which the tracts were bounded 

any indifferent man." — Colden y Document- are as clear as the marks of modern sur- 

ary History , i, 383, 384. Nevertheless veyors. 
many such localities have been and can 1 O ' Callaghan^ 11, 48a. 



74 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Tackapousha, sachem in 1656, was also chief sachem of the 
western chieftaincies on the island. 

5th. The Matinecocks, who claimed jurisdiction of the lands 
east of Newtown as far as the west line of Smithtown, and 
probably to the west side of Nesaquake river. They were 
numerous and had large villages at Flushing, Glen Cove, 
Cold Spring, Huntington and Cow Harbor. 1 A portion of the 
chieftaincy took part in the war of 1643 under Gonwarrowe ; 
but the sachem at that time remained friendly to the Dutch, 
and through his diplomacy succeeded in establishing peace. 
Whiteneymen (one-eyed) was sachem in 1643, and Assiapam 
in 1653. 

6th. The Nesaquakes or Missaquogues possessed the country 
east of the river of that name to Stony brook and from the sound 
to the middle of the island. The principal settlement of the 
tribe was on the site of the present village of Nesaquake where 
the sachem probably resided. Coginiquant was sachem in 1656. 

7th. The Seatalcats or Setaukets^ whose territory extended 
from Stony brook to Wading river. Their village was upon 
Little Neck. They are said to have been a numerous family. 
Warrawakin sachem, 1655 ; Gil, in 1675. 

8th. The Corchaugs owned the remainder of the territory 
from Wading river to Oyster ponds, and were spread upon 
the north shore of Peconic bay, and upon the necks adjoining 
the sound. From the many local advantages which their situa- 
tion afforded, there is reason to suppose that they were, as re- 
gards numbers and military power, a respectable clan. Mo- 
mometon sachem in 1648. 

9th. The Manhassets^ who occupied Shelter island, Hog 
island, and Ram island. Their principal settlement was on 
Shelter island ; and the residence of their sachem on what is 
now known as Sachem's Neck. Tradition affirms that they 
could once bring into the field more than five hundred fighting 
men. From their exposed situation they were, like other clans 
on this part of the island, made tributary to the Pequots^ Nar- 
ragansetts and Mahicans alternately. Poygratasuck, a brother to 

1 Thompson' 's Long Island. Van Tien- thirty families in 1650. 
hoven represents them to consist of only 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



75 



Wyandance, was sachem in 1648, and is spoken of as possessed 
of capacity and courage. Yokee, or Youghco, sachem in 1651. 

10th. The Secatogues^ who joined the Marsapequas on the 
west and claimed the country as far east as Patchogue. The 
farm owned by the Willett family, at Islip, is supposed to have 
been the site of their village. The bounds of their tract were 
from Connectquut river on the east to the line of Oyster bay 
on the west, and from the South bay to the middle of the island. 
They were so much reduced by wars and disease that when 
settlements were made among them their lands were compara- 
tively deserted. Winnequaheagh was sachem in 1683. 

nth. The Patchogue x, or Onchechaugs. Their jurisdiction ex- 
tended fpom Patchogue east to West Hampton, and their villages 
at Patchogue, Fire Place, Mastic, Moriches and West Hampton. 
Tobaccus sachem in 1666. 

1 2th. The ShinecockS) who claimed the territory from West 
Hampton to East Hampton, including Sag harbor, and the 
whole south shore of Peconic bay. Nowedonah was sachem 
in 1648, and Quaquasho, or The Hunter, in 1 691. 

13th. The Mont auks. 1 This chieftaincy was acknowledged 
both by the Indians and the Europeans, as the ruling family 
of the island. They were indeed, the head of the tribe of Man- 
tauks^ the other divisions named being simply clans or groups, 
as in the case of other tribes. DeRasieres and Van der 
Donck class them as " old Manhattans." They were consi- 
derable in numbers ; distinguished for the hospitality which 
they extended to the Dutch traders and early settlers, and no 
less so for their subsequent hostility. Holding in their posses- 
sion the treasure chest of all the Indian nations, they were 
especially exposed to invasion by the more powerful tribes bor- 
dering on the sound. At the time of the discovery they were 
a part of or under tribute to the Mahicans. Wyandance, their 
sachem, was also the grand sachem of Paumanacke, or Sewan- 
hackey, as the island was called. Nearly all the deeds for lands 
were confirmed by him. His younger brothers, Nowedonah 
and Poygratasuck, were respectively sachems of the Shinecocks 
and the Manhassets. His residence was upon Montauk, and 

x Metowacks, Brodbead ; Matuwacks, Yates & Moulton ; Montauks, Thompson. 



76 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



the body of his followers lay in the immediate vicinity. Dur- 
ing the wars of the Mahicans, the Montauks were subjugated by 
or compelled to pay tribute to the Pequots. After the destruc- 
tion of the latter nation in 1637, the Mahicans again asserted 
their authority, but about that time the Montauks accepted the pro- 
tection of the English and paid tribute to the governor of New 
Haven. In 1653, they were engaged in war with the Narra- 
gansetts, or rather the latter attacked them "as the friends and 
tributaries of the English." 1 A considerable number of the 
Montauks perished in this war. 

On the division of the island in 1650, between the English 
and the Dutch, the English taking the eastern, and the Dutch 
the western part, the jurisdiction of Wyandance was nominally 
divided, Tackapousha being elected sachem of the chieftaincies 
in possession of the Dutch, viz : Marsapequas, Merikokes, 
Carnarsees, Secatogues, Rockaways, and Matinecocks. In 
the winter of 1658, the small pox destroyed more than half the 
clan, while Wyandance lost his life by poison secretly adminis- 
tered. The remainder, both to escape the fatal malady, 
and the danger of invasion in their weakened state, fled in a 
body to their white neighbors, who received and entertained 
them for a considerable period. Wycombone succeeded his 
father, Wyandance, and being a minor, divided the government 
with his mother, who was styled the Squa-sachem. Lion 
Gardiner and his son David acted as guardians to the young 
chief, by request of his father made just before his death. At 
Fort Pond, called by the Indians Konk-hong-anok, are the remains 



1 Thompson ascribes the cause of this 
war tg the refusal of the Montauk mon- 
arch to join in the plan for exterminating 
the Europeans. Roger Williams writes 
to the governor of Massachusetts in 1654 : 
" The cause of the war is the pride of the 
barbarians, Ascassascotick, the Long Is- 
land sachem, and Ninigret, of the Narra- 
gansetts. The former is proud and fool- 
ish; the latter proud and fierce." — 
Thompson 's Hist. Long Island ' Drake's 
Book of the Indians. 

Lion Gardiner, in his Notes on East 
Hampton, relates, that the Block Island 
Indians, acting as the allies of the Narra- 
gansetts attacked the Montauks, during 



King Philip's war, (1675), and punished 
them severely. The engagement took 
place on Block Island, whither the Mon- 
tauks went in their canoes, and upon land- 
ing, fell into an ambuscade. He says : 
" The Montauk Indians were nearly all 
killed ; a few were protected by the Eng- 
lish and brought away. The sachem 
was taken and carried to Narragansctt, 
he was made to walk on a large flat rock 
that was heated by building fires on it, 
and walked several times over it singing 
his death song, but his feet being burned 
to the bones, he fell and they finished the 
tragical scene as is usual for savages." — 
N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1849, 258. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



77 



of the burial ground of the chieftaincy, and here once stood the 
citadel of the monarch, Wyandance. 1 

II. The chieftaincies of the Wappingers were : 
1st. The Reckgawawancs. 2 This chieftaincy has been gene- 
rally known by the generic name of Manhattans^ and is so 
designated by Brodhead and other historians. The site of their 
principal village is now occupied by that of Yonkers, and was 
called Nappeckamak. This village, says Bolton, 4 was situated 
at the mouth of the Neperah, or Saw Mill creek. On Berrien's 
Neck, on the north shore of the Spuyten Duyvel creek, was 
situated their castle or fort, called Nipinichsen. This fort was 
carefully protected by a strong stockade and commanded the 
romantic scenery of the Papirinimen, or Spuyten Duyvel, and 
the Mahicanituk, the junction of which two streams was called 
Shorackappock. It was at this castle that the fight occurred 
between Hudson and the Indians on his return voyage, 5 and 



1 Thompson's History of Long Island. 

3 Bolton gives them the name of Nap- 
peckamaks, but that title does not appear 
in the records except as the name of their 
village at Yonkers. 

3 Custom would, perhaps, warrant the 
continuance of the name as designating 
a chieftaincy, but the evidence is conclu- 
sive that it was not used by the Indians 
in any such connection, but was a generic 
term designating not only the occupants 
of the island now called Manhattan, but 
of Long Island, and the mainland north 
of Manhattan Island. The term Man- 
hattan indicates this, being apparently 
from Menohhunnet, which in Eliot's; 
Bible, is given as the equivalent of islands, 
or as applied to the people, " the people 
of the islands." — [Historical Magazine, 
i, 89). The statements of the Dutch 
historians confirm this interpretation. 
Van der Donck and Wassenaar agree 
that there were four languages spoken by 
the natives, namely, the Manhattan, 
Minqua, Savanoo, and Wappinoo. " With 
the Manhattan," says Van der Donck, 
" we include those who live in the neigh- 
boring places along the North river on 
Long Island and at the Neversink." De 
Rasieres, writing in 1628, as a personal 
witness, says : " Up the river the east 
side is high, full of trees, and in some 
places there is a little good land, where 



formerly many people have dwelt, but 
who for the most part have died or have 
been driven away by the Wappenos." 
Again, referring to Long Island, he says : 
" It is inhabited by the old Manhattans 
(Manhatesen) ; they are about two 
hundred or three hundred strong, women 
and men, under different chiefs whom 
they call sackimes (sachems)." De Laet 
says : " On the east side on the main 
land, dwell the Manhattans." Block, 
whose vessel was burned in the lower 
bay in 1614, and who there built another, 
was fed and protected by the Manhattans, 
not on Manhattan Island, but, as appears 
by the statements of the Long Island 
Indians, this care and protection was in 
the territory and on the island of the 
latter. Under this explanation there is 
no contradiction in the statements of 
Hudson, De Laet and other writers, as 
compared with the Albany Records, that 
the name Manhattan, is " from or after 
the tribe of savages among whom the 
Dutch made their first settlement ; " nor 
with that contained in a paper describing 
New Netherland [Documentary History, 
iv, 115): "So called from the people 
which inhabited the main land on the 
east side of the river." 

4 History of Westchester County. 

6 " Whereupon two canoes full of men, 
with their bowes and arrowes shot at us 



78 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



it was also at this point that he first dropped anchor on his as- 
cending voyage. They held occupation of Manhattan island 
and had there villages which were occupied while on hunting 
and fishing excursions. In Breeden Raedt their name is given 
as the Reckewackes, and in the treaty of 1643, ls sa ^ tnat 
Oritany, sachem of the Hackinsacks, " declared he was dele- 
gated by and for those of Tappaen, Reckgawawanc, Kickta- 
wanc, and Sintsinck." 

The tract occupied by the Reckgawawancs on the main land 
was called Kekesick, and is described as " lying over against 
the flats of the island of Manhates." It extended north includ- 
ing the site of the present village of Yonkers, and east to the 
Broncks river. Their chiefs were Rechgawac, after whom they 
appear to have been called, Fecquesmeck, and Peckauniens. 
Their first sachem known to the Dutch, was Tackarew, in 
1639. In 1682, the names of Goharis, Teattanqueer and 
Wearaquaeghier appear as the grantors of lands to Frederick 
Phillipse. Tackarew's descendants are said to have been resi- 
dents of Yonkers as late as 1 701. The last point occupied by 
the chieftaincy was Wild Boar hill, to which place its members 
had gathered together as the Europeans encroached upon them. 
Traces of two burial grounds have been discovered on their 
lands. 

2d. The JVeckquaesgeeks. 1 As early as 1644, this chieftaincy 
is known to have had three entrenched castles, 2 one of which 
remained as late as 1663, and was then garrisoned by eighty 
warriors. Their principal village was on the site of Dobb's 
Ferry ; it is said that its outlines can still be traced by numerous 
shell beds. It was called Weckquaskeck, and was located at 
the mouth of Wicker's creek, which was called by the Indians 
Wysquaqua. Their second village was called Alipconck. Its 

after our sterne ; in recompense whereof killed one of them. Then our men 

we discharged six muskets, and killed with their muskets, killed three or four 

two or three of them. Then above an more of them. So they went their 

hundred of them came to a point of land way." — Hudson s yournal. 
to shoot at us. There I shot a falcon at 1 This name appears to be local, al- 

them, and killed two of them ; where- though there is some reason for regarding 

upon the rest fled into the woods. Yet it as generic. 

they manned off another canoe with nine 3 "Journal of New Netherland," Docu- 

or ten men, which came to meet us. So mentary History , iv, 15. 
I shot a falcon, and shot it through, and 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



79 



site is now occupied by the village of Tarrytown. Their terri- 
tory appears to have extended from Norwalk on the Sound, to 
the Hudson, and to have embraced considerable portions of the 
towns of Mount Pleasant, Greenburgh, White Plains, and Rye ; 
it was very largely included in the Manor of Phillipsborough. 
Their sachem, in 1649, was Ponupahowhelbshelen ; in 1660, 
Ackhough ; in 1663, Souwenaro ; in 1680, Weskora, or Wes- 
komen, and Goharius his brother ; in 1681, Wessickenaiuw and 
Conarhanded his brother. Their chiefs are largely represented 
in the list of grantors of lands. 

3d. The Smt-Sinks. This chieftaincy does not appear to 
have been very numerous. Their name is perpetuated in the 
present village of Sing-Sing, which was called Ossing-Sing, 
where they had a village. Another village was located between 
the Sing-Sing creek and the Kitchawonck, or Croton river, and 
was called Kestaubuinck. Their lands are described in a deed 
to Frederick Phillipse, August 24, 1685, and were included in 
his manor. The grantors were Weskenane, Crawman, Wap- 
pus, Mamaunare and Weremenhore, who may or may not have 
been chiefs. 

4th. The Kitchawongs, or Kicktawancs. The territory of 
this chieftaincy appears to have extended from Croton river 
north to Anthony's Nose. Their principal village, Kitcha- 
wonck, was at the mouth of the river which bears -their name. 
They also had a village at Peekskill, which they called Sackhoes. 
Their castle or fort, which stood at the mouth of the Croton, 
is represented as one of the most formidable and ancient of the 
Indian fortresses south of the Highlands. Its precise location 
was at the entrance or neck of Teller's point (called Senasqua), 
and west of the cemetery of the Van Cortlandt family. Their 
burial ground was a short distance east of the castle ; a roman- 
tic and beautiful locality. The traditionary sachem of the 
chieftaincy was Croton. Metzewakes appears as sachem in 
1641 ; Weskheun in 1685, and, in 1699, Sakama Wicker. 
There was apparently a division of the chieftaincy at one time, 
Kitchawong appearing as sachem of the village and castle on 
the Croton, and Sachus of the village of Sackhoes or Peekskill. 
Sirham was sachem of the latter in 1684. Their lands were 



80 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



principally included in the manor of Cortlandt, from which was 
subsequently erected the towns of Cortlandt, Yorktown, Somers, 
North Salem and Lewisborough. 

5th. The Tankitekes. 1 The lands occupied by this chieftaincy 
are now embraced in the towns of Darien, Stamford, and New 
Canaan, in Connecticut, and Poundridge, Bedford, and Green- 
bush, in Westchester county. They were purchased by Na- 
thaniel Turner, in behalf of the people of New Haven, in 1641, 
and are described in the deed as the tracts called Toquams and 
Shipham. Ponus was sachem of the former and Wasenssne of 
the latter. Ponus reserved a portion of Toquams for the use 
of himself and his associates, but with this exception their entire 
possessions appear to have passed under a deed without metes 
or bounds. The chieftaincy occupies a prominent place in 
Dutch history through the action of Pacham, "a crafty man," 
who not only performed discreditable service for Director Kieft, 
but was also very largely instrumental in bringing on the war of 
1645. 

6th. The Nochpeems. This chieftaincy occupied the high- 
lands north of Anthony's Nose. 2 Van der Donck assigns to 
them three villages : Keskistkonck, Pasquasheck and Nochpeem 
on the Hudson. Their principal village, however, appears to 
have been called Canopus from the name of their sachem. It 
was situated in what is now known as Canopus hollow, one of 
the most fertile sections of Putnam county. The residence of 
Canopus is said to have been on a hill in the south-east part of 



1 Brodhead locates this chieftaincy at 
Haverstraw, but his authorities are not at 
all clear. For example, it is said that an 
offending member of the Hackinsacks, 
had gone " two days' journey off among 
the Tankitekes ; " Pacham, the subtle 
chief of the Tankitekes near Haver- 
straw." Haverstraw Was not two days' 
journey from Hackinsack, certainly. His 
location is also defeated in the person and 
history of Pacham, whose name he pre- 
viously gives to a chieftaincy in the 
highlands. O'Callaghan locates them 
on the east side of Tappan bay, and 
Bolton in the eastern part of Westchester 
from the deeds which they gave to their 
lands. The latter is clearly correct. 



a Wassenaar locates here the Pachany j 
and Brodhead, on authorities which ap- 
pear to him sufficient, follows him under 
the name of Pachimis. In Breeden 
Raedt they are called Hogelanders, while 
in the treaty of 1644 (O'Callaghan, 1, 
302), they are called Nochpeems, a title 
which corresponds with the name of one 
of their villages on Van der Donck's 
map. It is not impossible that the Tan- 
kitekes extended into the highlands on 
the east, and that their chief Pacham 
held sway there, and hence the name j 
but the treaty record of 1644 appears to 
be a sufficient answer to this theory. It 
is certainly safe to designate them by a 
title by which they were officially known. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



81 



the town of Putnam Valley, and was included in the deeds for 
the manor of Cortlandt. The remainder of their lands passed 
into the hands of Adolph Phillipse, under a title which was the 
subject of controversy for years, and in reference to which a 
delegation of chiefs visited England accompanied by king Nim- 
ham. Those who have regarded these chieftaincies as " inde- 
pendent tribes, united, since they were known to the Europeans, 
by no common government," may examine this controversy 
with profit. The grantors of the deed were Angnehanage, 
Rauntaye, Wassawawigh, Meanakahorint, Meahem, Wrawerm- 
neuw, and Awangrawryk, and was for a tract from Anthony's 
Nose to the Matteawan creek, and from the Hudson three 
miles into the country. The latter line Phillipse stretched to 
twenty miles. 1 

7th. The Siuuanoys ; also known as " one of the seven tribes 
of the sea-coast. " This chieftaincy was one of the largest of 
the Wappinger subdivisions. They occupied the northern shore 
of the sound, " from Norwalk twenty-four miles to the neighbor- 
hood of Hell-gate." How far they claimed inland is uncertain, 
but their deeds covered the manor lands of Morrisania, Scarsdall 
and Pelham, from which were erected the towns of Pelham, New 
Rochelle, East and West Chester, North and New Castle, 
Mamaroneck, Scarsdall, and parts of White Plains and West 
Farms ; other portions are included in the towns of Rye and 
Harrison, as well as in Stamford. There is also some reason 
for supposing that the tract known as Toquams and assigned to 
the Tankitekes, was a part of their dominions. A very large 
village of the chieftaincy was situated on Rye Pond in the town 
of Rye. In the southern angle of that town, on a beautiful 
hill now known as Mount Misery, 2 stood one of their castles. 
Another village was situated on Davenport's Neck. Near the 
entrance to Pelham's Neck was one of their burial grounds. 
Two large mounds are pointed out as the sepulchres of the 
sachems Ann-Hoock and Nimham. In the town of West 

1 Land Papers, xvm, 127, etc, Rochelle, in retaliation for a descent upon 

2 This hill is said to have acquired its their place. If such a battle took place 
present name from the fact that a large it has no official record. The story is 
body of Indians were there surprised and mythical. 

cut to pieces by the Huguenots of New 



82 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



Chester they had a castle upon what is still known as Castle 
Hill neck, and a village about Bear swamp, of which they 
remained in possession as late as 1689. Their ruling sachem, 
in 1640, was Ponus, whose jurisdiction was over tracts called 
Rippowams and Toquams, and the place of whose residence 
was called Poningoe. He left issue three sons, Omenoke, 
Taphance and Onox ; the latter had a son called Powhag. In 
1 66 1, Shanasockerell, or Shanorocke, was sachem in the same 
district, and, in 1680, Katonah and his son Paping appear as 
such. Of another district Maramaking, commonly known as 
Lame Will, was sachem in 1681. His successor was Patt- 
hunck, who was succeeded by his son, Waptoe Patthunck. 
The names of several of their chiefs occur in Dutch history as 
well as in the early deeds. Among them are Ann-Hoock, 
alias Wampage, already noticed, who was probably the murderer 
of Ann Hutchinson, 1 and Mayane, spoken of in 1644 as "a 
fierce Indian, who, alone, dared to attack, with bow and arrows, 
three Christians armed with guns, one of whom he shot dead ; 
and, whilst engaged with the other, was killed by the third," 
and his head conveyed to Fort Amsterdam. The occurrence 
served to convince the Dutch that in offending against the chiefs 
in their immediate vicinity, they were also offending those of 
whose existence they had no previous knowledge. 2 Shanasock- 
well is represented as " an independent chieftain of the Siwanoys" 
of the island called Manussing. 

8th. The Sequins. This was a large chieftaincy ; its princi- 
pal seat was on the west bank of the Connecticut river and 
its jurisdiction over all the south-western Connecticut clans, 
including those designated by Van der Donck as the ^uirepeys, 
the Weeks, the Makimanes, and the Conittekooks, and classified 
by De Forest 3 as the Mahackenos, Unkowas, Paugussetts, Wepa- 
waugs, ^uinnipiacs, Monteweses y Sicaoggs, Tunxis, etc. Their 
lands on the Connecticut were included in a purchase made by 
the West India Company, June 8, 1633, and on them was 
erected the Dutch trading post and fort known as " Good Hope." 



1 Nothing was more common among 2 Documentary History, iv, 14. 
the Indians than to give to a warrior the 8 De Forest's History Indians of Connec- 
name of his victim. ticut. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



83 



The tract is said to have been sixty miles in extent. 1 Subse- 
quently (1643), Sequin, from whom the chieftaincy took its 
name, covered his deed to the Dutch by one to the English, in 
which he included "the whole country to the Mohawks 
country." 2 By the fortunes of war, the Pequots compelled the 
Sequins, the Siwanoys, and a portion of the Montauks, to pay 
them tribute, 3 but this condition was only temporary. In the 
subsequent war between the English and their allies and the 
Pequots, the national existence of the latter was destroyed. 
There are many reasons for presuming that the Sequins were an 
enlarged family of W appingers, perhaps the original head of the 
tribe from whence its conquests were pushed over the southern 
part of the peninsula. 4 

9th. The Wappingers. North of the Highlands was the 
chieftaincy historically known as the Wappingers f and acknow- 
ledged as the head of the chieftaincies of the tribal organization 
of that name occupying the territory from RoelofF Jansen's kill 



1 The deed recites the agreement be- 
tween Van Curler, on the part of the 
company, " and the sachem named Wapy- 
quart or Tatteopan, chief of Sickenames 
river, and owner of the Fresh river of 
New Netherland, called in their tongue 
Connetticuck," for the purchase and sale 
of the lands named, " on condition that 
all tribes might freely, and without fear 
or danger," resort thither for purposes of 
trade. — 0 'CallagAan, i, 150. The Sicke- 
names, from whom the title was obtained, 
are described as " living between the 
Brownists (the Puritans) and the Hol- 
landers," and that " all the tribes on the 
northern coast were tributary to them." 
Sequin denied the validity of their deed 
and sold to the English. The Dutch 
quarreled with the Sickenames (Pequots), 
and the latter invited the English to settle 
at New Haven ; subsequently quarreled 
with them also, and were destroyed. — 
(TCallaghan, 1, 157; De Forests Indians 
of Connecticut. 

3 Farmington Toivn Records, De Forest. 

* The tradition is recited by O'Callaghan 
that the Sequins had original jurisdiction, 
but lost it after three pitched battles with 
the Pequots. There is a strange mixing 
up of tribes in the story, and especially in 
that of the original sale, in which the 



transaction is made to appear " with the 
knowledge of Magaritiune," the Wappi- 
noo chief of Sloop's bay. — 0" 'CallagAan, 
1, 149, 150, 157. " After the overthrow 
of Sequin, the Pequots advanced along 
the coast and obliged several tribes to pay 
tribute, and sailed across the sound and 
extorted tribute from the eastern inhabit- 
ants of Sewan-Hackey. — De Forest's 
History Indians of Connecticut, 61. 
4 Ante, p. 41. 

6 Ante, p. 41. The chieftaincy must 
have borne some other name, but what 
is not known. Among the Moravians 
they were known as the Wequehachkes, 
or the people of the hill country. 
Governor Lovelace, in a letter to Go- 
vernor Winthrop of Massachusetts, Dec. 
29, 1869 [New Tork Assize Record), 
writes : " I believe I can resolve your 
doubt concerning what is meant by the 
Highland Indians amongst us. The 
Wappingers and Wickeskeck, etc., have 
always been reckoned so." It is entirely 
possible that the tribal name was Weque- 
hachke, or Wickeskeck, or Weckquaesgeek, 
and that Wappingers is local. In all* 
their official relations, however, and in 
the recognition of Nimham, they were 
known as the Wappingers. 



84 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



on the north to Manhattan island on the south. What their 
family clans were on the north is not known, nor where their 
capital. On Van der Donck's map three of their villages or 
castles are located on the south side of the Mawenawasigh, 01 
Great Wappinger's kill, which now bears their name. North 
of that stream they appear to have been known as the Indians 
of the Long Reach, and on the south as the Highland In- 
dians. Among their chiefs Goethals and Tseessaghgaw are 
named, while of their sachems the names of Megriesken and 
Nimham 1 alone survive. Of their possessions on the Hudson 
there is but one perfect transfer title on record, that being for 
the lands which were included in the Rombout patent, in which 
" Sackeraghkigh, for himself and in the name of Megriesken, 
sachem of the Wappinger Indians," and other Indians therein 
named as grantors, conveyed the tract beginning on the south 
side of the Matteawan creek and running along the Hudson 
north to a point five hundred rods beyond " the Great Wapping's 
kill, called by the Indians Mawenawasigh," thence east, keeping 
five hundred rods north of said creek, " four hours' going into 
the woods," thence south to the south side of Matteawan creek, 
and thence west " four hours' going " to the place of beginning — 
a district now embraced in the towns of Fishkill, East Fishkill, 
etc., in Dutchess county. 

Although it is so stated on Van der Donck's map of New 
Netherland, and assumed by Gallatin as a fact, there is no evi- 
dence that the Wappingers extended west of the Hudson, but, 
on the contrary, the conclusion is certain that they did not. 
The record of the Esopus wars and the sales of lands show 
what and who the latter were. The error of Van der Donck's 
informants was in confusing totemic emblems, and similarity of 
dialect, with tribal jurisdiction. The totem of the Wappingers 
as well as that of the Esopus clans, was the Wolf, as already 
stated, while below the Highlands came the Turkey of the 

1 " Daniel Nimham, a native Indian have always had a sachem or king whom 

and acknowledged sachem or king of a they have acknowledged to be the head 

certain tribe of Indians known and called of the tribe, and that, by a regular line of 

by the name of Wappingers, represents succession the government of the tribe 

that the tribe formerly were numerous, descended to the said present sachem." — 

at present consists of about two hundred New York Land Papers, xvm, 127. 
and twenty-seven persons 5 that they 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



85 



Lenapes, constituting a clear distinction from their neighbors on 
the opposite shore. Gallatin strengthens the error by introduc- 
ing the fact that the Wappingers were a party to the treaty of 
Easton, but was evidently without knowledge that they were 
recent emigrants from New York. 1 
III. The Mahicans. 

The territory of the Mahicans joined the Wappingers and 
Sequins on the south, and stretched thence north, embracing the 
head waters of the Hudson, the Housatonic and the Connecti- 
cut, and the water-shed of lakes George and Champlain. The 
chieftaincies of the tribe have a very imperfect preservation, but its 
general divisions are indicated by the terms : I. The Mahicans, 
as applied to that portion occupying the valley of the Hudson and 
the Housatonic ; 2. The Soquatucks, as applied to those east of 
the Green Mountains ; 3. The Pennacooks, as applied to those 
occupying the territory " from Haverhill to the sources of the 
Connecticut ; " 4. The Horikans, who occupied the Lake 
George district, and 5. The Nauuaas immediately north of the 
Sequins on the Connecticut. The first of these general divisions 
was again divided into at least five parts, as known to the au- 
thorities of New York, viz : 1. The Mahicans, occupying the 
country in the vicinity of Albany ; 2. The Wiekagjocks, described 
by Wassenaar as "next below the Maikens 5" 3. The Mech- 
kentowoons lying above Katskill and on Beeren or Mahican 
Island ; 4. The Wawyachtonocks* who apparently resided in the 
western parts of Dutchess and Columbia counties, and 5. The 
Westenhucks, who held the capital of the confederacy. At the 
time of the discovery those embraced in the first subdivision 
had a castle on what is now known as Haver island, called by 
them Cohoes, on the west side of the river, just below Cohoes 
falls, under the name of Monemius* castle, and another on the 
east bank and south of the first, called Unuwat's castle. 3 At 

1 Johnson Manuscript, iv, 54. name of Wayaughtanock." In the pro- 

2 The name is local, and is applied, in ceedings of a convention held at Albany 
a petition by William Caldwell and others in 1689, the name is applied to the 
in 1702, to a "tract of unappropriated Indians who are called the Wawyachteioks 
lands in ye hands of ye Indians, lying or Wawijachtenocks. 

in Dutchess county to ye westward of 3 MapofRensselaerswyck,0'Ga//<3g-&7«'s 
Westenholks creek, and to ye eastward New Net her land • Wassenaar, Document- 
of Poghkeepsie, called by ye Indians by ye ary History, m, 43. 



86 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



or near Schodac was Aepjin's castle. 1 Nine miles east of 
Claverack was one of the castles of the Wiekagjocks, and on 
Van der Donck's map two of their villages, without name, are 
located inland north of Roeloff Jansen's kill. Potik and Beeren 
island 2 were for many years in the possession of the W echken- 
towoons. The villages of the JVawyachtonocks are without 
designation, but it is probable that Shekomeko, 3 about two miles 
south of the village of Pine Plains, in Dutchess county, was 
classed as one of them, as well as that of Wechquadnach or 
Wukhquautenauk, described as " twenty-eight miles below 
Stockbridge." Kaunaumeek, where the missionary, Brainerd, 
labored, and which he describes as " near twenty miles from 
Stockbridge, and near about twenty miles distant from Albany 
eastward ; " 4 Potatik, located by the Moravians on the Housa- 
tonic " seventy miles inland," and Westenhuck or Wnahkta- 
kook, the capital of the confederacy, were villages of the Wes- 
tenhucks, subsequently known as the Stockbridges. 5 That their 
villages and chieftaincies were even more numerous than those of 
the Montauks and Wappingers there is every reason to suppose, but 
causes the very opposite of those which led to the preservation 
of the location of the latter, permitted the former to go down 
with so many unrecorded facts relating to the tribe, as well as to 
their neighbors, the Mohawks, whose four castles only appear on 
record instead of seven as affirmed by the Jesuit missionaries. 6 

But these subdivisions are of no practical importance. In 
tribal action they were as unknown as the merest hamlet in 



1 Brodhead, i, 77 5 Albany County 
Records ; Stockbridge Tradition. 

8 .Literally Bear's island, so called no 
doubt from the totem of its occupants. 

3 "Shacomico, a place in the remotest 
part of that county (Dutchess) inhabited 
chiefly by Indians, where also live three 
Moravian priests with their families in a 
blockhouse, and sixteen Indian wigwams 
round about it." — Documentary History, 
in, 1014. 

4 "The place as to its situation, was 
sufficiently unpleasant, being encompassed 
with mountains and woods." — Brainerd 1 s 
Diary. The Indians removed from this 
village to Stockbridge, in 1744. The 
site of the hut which Brainerd occupied 



is marked by a pine tree growing up from 
the centre of what was once his only 
room, and the bridge near by is called 
Brainerd's Bridge. — Stockbridge, Past and 
Present, 69. 

6 Westenhuck and Stockbridge were 
two distinct places. The former was 
among the hills south of Stockbridge. — 
Sauthiers Map. After the establishment 
of the reservation and mission at Stock- 
bridge the Indian village was mainly, if 
not entirely, deserted. Many of the tribe 
removed to Pennsylvania, and others 
united with the mission. 

6 Local research would, it is believed, 
develop forty villages in the territory of 
the Mahicans. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



87 



the voice of a civilized state ; in other respects, as free as the 
most perfect democracy. Had the lands upon which they were 
located been sold in small tracts and opened to settlement at an 
early period, they would not have escaped observation and record ; 
but the wilderness was a sealed book for many years, and there 
are those who still write that it was without Indian habitations. 
Such, too, was the dream in regard to the lands of the Iroquois, 
until Sullivan's blazing torch lighted the hills and valleys with 
the crackling flames of forty burning villages. 

On the 8th of April, 1680, the Mahicans sold their land, on 
the west side of the Hudson, to Van Rensselaer, or at least so 
much thereof as was "called Sanckhagag," a tract described as 
extending from Beeren island up to Smack's island, and in 
breadth two days' journey." The grantors were Paep-Sikene- 
komtas, Manconttanshal and Sickoussen. On the 27th of 
July, following, the same gentleman bought from Cattomack, 
Nawanemit, Abantzene, Sagisquwa and Kanamoack, the lands 
lying south and north of Fort Orange, and extending to within 
a short distance of Monemius' castle, and from Nawanemit, 
one of the last named chiefs, his grounds, " called Samesseeck," 
stretching on the east side of the river, from opposite Castle 
island to a point facing Fort Orange, and thence from Poetan- 
oek, the mill creek, north to Negagonse. Seven years later 
he purchased an intervening district " called Papsickenekas," 
lying on the east bank of the river, extending from opposite 
Castle island "south to a point opposite Smack's island, includ- 
ing the adjacent islands, and all the lands back into the interior, 
belonging to the Indian grantors, and, with his previous pur- 
chases, became the proprietor of a tract of country twenty-four 
miles long, and forty-eight miles broad, containing, by estima- 
tion, over seven hundred thousand acres, now comprising the 
counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and part of Columbia. 1 

Deeds of a later period for lands in the same vicinity are re- 
corded in Albany county records. One is given " in the pre- 
sence of Aepjen and Nietamozit, being among the chiefs of the 

1 (? Callaghan' s New Net her land, i, 916; Map of Rensselaerswyck, O'Cal- 
122, 123, 124; Map of Manor of Rens- laghan's New Netherlands 1, 204. 
selaerswyck, Documentary History, m, 



88 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Mohikanders another defines the tract conveyed, as " the 
fast bank where the house of Machacnotas stood," and another 
conveys an island called " Schotack or Aepjen's island." Two 
immense tracts were sold to Robert Livingston, July 12th, 
1683, and August 10th, 1685, and subsequently included in a 
patent to him for the manor of Livingston. The grantors were 
the following " Mahican Indian owners :" Ottonowaw, a crip- 
ple Indian ; Tataemshaet, Oothoot, Maneetpoo, and two In- 
dian women named Tamaranchquae and Wawanitsaw, and 
others in the deed named. 1 The lands between Livingston and 
Van Rensselaer were taken up in small parcels, some of them 
without purchase. Sales east of the Taghkanick mountains, in the 
state of Connecticut, are recorded, and among others that of a 
tract to Johannes Diksman and Lawrence Knickerbacker, now 
in the town of Salisbury, the grantors being Konaguin, Sakow- 
anahook and others " all of the nation of Mohokandas." Al- 
most touching the shore of the southern extremity of Lake 
Champlain, " Mahican Abraham" asserted his proprietorship, 
indicating tribal possession seventy miles north of Albany. In 
view of these records there is no difficulty in determining the 
value of the assertion that the Mahicans were driven back to the 
Housatonic " by their implacable enemies, the Mohawks." The 
more important proposition is, how carne the former west of 
the Hudson, if the prowess of their rivals was so supreme ? 

Reference has already been made to the capital or council-iire 
of the nation as having been at Westenhuck. That the ori- 
ginal capital was at Schodac is affirmed by the Dutch records and 
by the traditions of the tribe, and accords with the interpretation 
of the name itself. Like other tribes, they recoiled before the 
incoming civilization, and sometime between 1664 and 1734, 
removed their national seat to Westenhuck where it was known 
to the authorities of Massachusetts, 2 as well as to the Moravian 
missionaries. "In February, 1744," says Loskiel, 3 "some 
Indian deputies arrived at Shekomeko from Westenhuck, to 
inquire whether the believing Indians would live in friendship 

1 Documentary Hi story t in, 612, 6 1 7. 8 History of the Moravian Missions. 

3 Stockbridge Past and Present. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



89 



with the new chief." In 1 75 1, he writes at Gnadenhutten, 
in Pennsylvania : " Two deputies were likewise sent to the great 
council of the Mahikan nation at Westenhuck, with which 
they appeared much pleased, and as a proof of their satisfac- 
tion made Abraham, an assistant at Gnadenhutten, a captain." 1 
Again : " The unbelieving Indians at Westenhuck, made 
several attempts to draw the Christian Indians in Shekomeko 
into their party." " Brother David Bruce," it is added, " paid 
visits to Westenhuck, by invitation of the head chief of the 
Mahican nation," of whom it is said : " the above mentioned 
chief of Westenhuck, who had long been acquainted with the 
brethren, departed this life." This chief was Konapot, whose 
name has been preserved in the records of the Stockbridge 
mission, and who is described by Hopkins as " the principal 
man among the Muhhekaneok of Massachusetts." By the 
records of Massachusetts, it appears that, in 1736, the Wes- 
tenhuck sachem visited Boston, accompanied by the chiefs 
from Hudson's river, as one people, while the former, when 
known as the Stockbridges, came to Albany in 1756, and were 
received as the actual representatives of the Mahicans, instead 
of those krrewn as such to the authorities of New York. The 
fact that Westenhuck was the point selected for missionary labor, 
by the Societyfor the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 
is additional proof of its importance. Though the extremities of 
the nation withered under the adverse influences by which they 
were surrounded, the heart remained in vigor long after that of 
its rivals had been consumed. 

IV. The chieftaincies of the Unamis were: 

1st. The Navisinks or Never sincks. This chieftaincy in- 
habited the Highlands south of Sandy Hook. It was with them 
that Hudson had intercourse after entering the bay of New 
York. He describes them as civil in their deportment, and 
disposed to exchange such products of the country as they had 
for knives, beads and articles of clothing. It was at their hands, 
also, that John Coleman, one of Hudson's crew, lost his life 

1 Abraham, whose Indian name was Pennsylvania, from whence he returned 

Schabash, was one of the chiefs of She- as stated. He subsequently became the 

komeko. He was converted by the head of the Mahicans of Pennsylvania. — 

Moravians and removed with them to Mem. Moray, Church. 



90 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



on the 6th of September, 1609. Passachquon was sachem in 
1663. 

2d. The Raritans, who occupied the valley and river which 
still bears their name. They were first called Sanhikans^ or 
Fire-workers. They were divided, it is said, in two sachemdoms 
and about twenty chieftaincies. From their title deeds it would 
appear that the two sachems were Appamanskoch and Mat- 
tano or Mattenon. 1 Their territory on the Hudson included 
the valley of the Raritan, and from thence to the sea. 2 The 
Dutch had some difficulties with them in 1641, but soon after 
that year they removed to the Kittateny mountains, and were 
subsequently known in Dutch history only through the deeds 
which they gave to their lands. They were not a warlike race, 
but peaceable in disposition, as became the traditional totem 
which they bore. Their treatment under the English of New 
Jersey, was liberal and just. No bloodshed or violence was 
permitted, nor occupation of their lands without purchase. 
Their possessions finally dwindled down to about three thousand 
acres in the township of Eversham, Burlington county, on 
which a church was erected. This land they obtained permis- 
sion to sell, in 1802, when the remnant of the cfan removed 
to Oneida lake, N. Y., and from thence, in 1824, to a tract 
on Lake Michigan, where they united with the Brothertons. 

3d. The Hackinsacks. The territory occupied by this chief- 
taincy was called Ack-kin-kas-hacky, and embraced the valley 
of the Hackinsack and Passaic rivers. Their number, in 1643, 
is stated at a thousand souls, of whom about three hundred were 
warriors. Their council-fire was kindled at Gamoenapa, the 
aboriginal for Communipau. They took prominent part in 

1 Deed for Raritan meadows, 16515 Southern Indians, they migrated further 
Deed to Denton and others, 1664. inland} the second, because this country 

2 " The district inhabited by a nation was flooded every spring." — Documentary 
called Raritangs, is situated on a fresh History, iv, 29. Some of our historians, 
water river, that flows through the cen- with characteristic zeal for the Mohawks, 
tre of the low lands which the Indians ascribe the removal of the Raritans to 
cultivate. This vacant territory lies the incursions of the former. It is not 
between two high mountains, far distant possible to determine who the " Southern 
the one from the other. This district Indians" named in the text were, but it 
was abandoned by the natives for two is not an improbable supposition that they 
reasons ; the first and principal is, that were Shawanoes. 

finding themselves unable to resist the 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



91 



events of 1643-44, but subsequently appear only as mediators 
in the person of their sachem Oritany, 1 who enjoyed to a rare 
old age the confidence of his people and of the surrounding 
chieftaincies, as well as that of the Europeans. He is spoken 
of in 1687, as very aged, and as delegating his authority in a 
measure to Perro. The lands of the chieftaincy embraced 
Jersey City, Hoboken, a part of Staten island, 2 Wehawken, 
Newark, Passaic, etc. 

4th. The Jquackanonks. Their sachem, in 1676, was Cap- 
tahem or Captamin. Their territory, or at least a portion of it, 
was called Haquequenunck or Acquackanonk, and included the 
site of the present city of Paterson. 3 They are also described 
as occupying a considerable portion of the centre of New Jersey. 

5th. The Tappans. The relations existing between this 
chieftaincy and the Hackinsacks were very intimate, so much so 
as to lead some to suppose that they were a part of Oritany's 
sachemdom. Their separate authority and jurisdiction, how- 
ever, is clearly established. Their territory extended from the 
vicinity of Hackinsack river to the Highlands. 4 De Vries pur- 
chased lands from them in 1640, which he describes as u a 
beautiful valley under the mountains, of about five hundred 
acres, within an hour's walk of Gamoenapa," the principal 
village of the Hackinsacks. On some of the early maps their 
village is located some miles back from the river, but in the 
attempt, on the part of the Dutch governor, to collect tribute 
from them, in 1640, it appears that access could be had 
to them by sending up a sloop, indicating that in the summer at 
least they had a representative position on the Hudson. In the 
treaty of 1745, Sessekemick represented them and appears to 
have acted under the counsel of Oritany. In the sale of Staten 
island, Taghkospemo appeared as their sachem, and there is 

Oratum, am sagamore, and sole der Cappellen, 1659. 

proprietor of Hackingsack, lying and be- 8 Deed to Hans Diderick and others, 

ing on the main land over against the March 2,5, 1676. Oritany, who was 

Isle of Manhattans." — Deed to Edward then living, had no part in this deed. 

Gove, Oct. 5, 1664. 4 "Within the first reach, onthewest- 

2 Staten island, by the Indians called ern bank of the river, where the land is 

Eghquaous, appears to have been owned low, there dwells a nation of savages, 

in partnership by the Raritans, the Hack- named Tappans." — De Laet, New York 

insacks and the Tappans. — Deed to Van Hist. Soc. Coll., zd series, 1, 298. 



92 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



evidence that his sachemship had much earlier date. Their 
name survives in Tappan bay, which probably bounded their 
possessions on the Hudson. 

6th. The Haver straws. North of the Tappans and inhabiting 
a territory, the westward boundaries of which are not clearly 
defined, were the Haverstraws^ so called by the Dutch, 1 but 
whose aboriginal name appears to have been lost. 2 They 
took some part in the early wars, but would seem to have been 
absorbed by the Tappans after the supremacy of the English. 
Stony point was the northern limit of their territory, as indi- 
cated by the deed to Governor Dongan subsequently embraced 
in the Evans patent. In a deed to Balthazar De Hart, July 
31, 1666, confirmed to him by letters patent from Cateret, and 
Council of New Jersey, April 10, 1671, and subsequently by 
patent from the Governor of New York, the tract conveyed is 
described as " all the land lying on the west side of Hudson's 
river, called Haverstraw, on the north side of the hills called 
Verdrietinge hook, on the south side of the highlands, on the 
east of the mountains, so that the same is bounded by Hudson's 
river and round about by the high mountains." 3 This descrip- 
tion embraces precisely the western boundary of Haverstraw 
bay. The deed was executed by Sackewaghgyn, Roansameck, 
Kewegham, and Kackeros. By deed to Stephen Van Cort- 
landt in 1683, it would appear that they had either moved fur- 
ther north or had more northern territory, the tract conveyed 
being described as lying opposite Anthony's nose, from the 
" south side of a creek called Senkapogh, west to the head 
thereof, then northerly along the high hills as the river runneth 
to another creek called Assinapink, thence along the same to 
Hudson's river." The deed was executed by " Sackagkemeck, 
sachem of Haverstraw, Werekepes, and Kaghtsikoos." Don- 

1 Named by our people Haverstroo." — 3 This purchase covered what were sub- 
De Laet. sequently called " the Christian Patented 

2 O'Callaghan gives the name of " Ses- lands of Haverstraw," and by that title 
segehout, chief of Rczucghnome, of Hav- formed the boundary in part of several 
erstroo," but it is not clear that that was patents. The original grant from Cater- 
the name of the chieftaincy, although the et was predicated on the supposition that 
presumption is strongly in its favor. — the tract was within the limits of New Jer- 
O 'Callaghari 's Neiv Netherlands n, 509, sey. 

note. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



93 



gan's purchase in 1685 covered this tract, and had as one of its 
grantors Werekepes, who was also a grantor to Van Cort- 
landt. From Verdrietig hook to Stony point may be assumed 
as the territory of the Haverstrauus. 

V. The chieftaincies of the Minsis were : 

1st. The Waoranecks. This chieftaincy has been variously 
located. Van der Donck places them in the Highlands on the 
east side of the river and south of Matteawan creek, and 
De Laet on the west side as occupants of the Esopus country. 1 
Wassenaar agrees with De Laet in locating them in the Fisher's 
hook. 2 The territory which was inhabited by them on the Hudson 
may be regarded as described with sufficient accuracy in what 
is known as Governor Dongan's two purchases (i684- , 85), the 
first of which extended from the Paltz tract to the Dans- 
kammer, and the second from Dans-kammer to Stony point. 
In the first, the limits of the Esopus Indians, or Warranawon- 
kongs, are defined as terminating at the Dans-kammer, and in 
the second the jurisdiction of what are therein called "the 
Murderer's kill Indians," is admitted as from the Dans-kammer 
to Stony point. Their western boundary cannot be so satis- 
factorily defined. From the fact that the same names, in part, 
appear as grantors of the Dongan tract, of the Cheesecock tract, 
and of a tract to Sir John Ashhurst, 3 the latter covering sixteen 
miles square, commencing at a point eight miles from the 
Hudson on the south side of "the Murderer's kill," it may be 
inferred that that boundary terminated with the natural water- 
shed of the Hudson. Were not De Laet's location sufficiently 
clear, there are other reasons for assuming that the " Murderer's 

1 " This reach (the Fisher's) extends and the subsequent signatures classed as 
to another narrow pass, where, on the " inferior owners." Thus in the Haver- 
west side of the river, there is a point of straw purchase, Sackagkemeck appears 
land that juts out covered with sand, as sachem or principal, and Werepekes 
opposite a bend in the river, on which as an " inferior owner." In the Dongan 
another nation of savages, the Waoranecks y purchase, Werepekes signed as sachem, 
have their abode." — DcLact. and Sackagkemeck as an inferior. In 

a At Fisher's hook are Pachany, Ware- the Cheesecock and Ashhurst deeds 

nocker, Warraiuannankonckx. — Documen- Moringamaghan, or Moringamack, is 

tary History , in, 28. the principal, while in the Dongan deed 

3 The duplication of signatures indi- he appears in a subordinate position, 

cates what may be called overlapping These overlapping boundaries entered very 

boundaries. The grantors, who were largely into consideration in fixing the 

principal owners, are generally so stated, limits of the Dongan purchase. 



94 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



kill Indians" of 1685, were the Waoranecks of 1625. The 
name by which they were last designated was that of the creek 
now called " Murderer's ; " their first name disappears from 
the early records almost simultaneously with the appearance 
of the latter, 1 and with the general classification of " Eso- 
pus Indians," while the territory assigned to them had no 
other known occupants, rich though it was in all the ele- 
ments of favorite hunting grounds. The Waoranecks parti- 
cipated in the Esopus wars, if not in the wars at Fort Am- 
sterdam, and at the Dans-kammer celebrated those frightful 

orgies called kinte-kay- 
ing, regarded by the 
Dutch as devil worship. 
Their relations with 
the Esopus Indians 2 
were such that there 
can be no hazard in 
classing them as one 
of the "five tribes," 
so called, of the Eso- 
pus country. Their 
sachem in 1685, was 
Werekepes, or Were- 
pekes, and Moringa- 
maghan 3 and Awesse- 

This was the most numerous 
of the Esopus chieftaincies. Their territory extended from the 

1 This creek is first called Murderer's 
on Van der Donck'smap, 1656, and was 
so called doubtless from events occurring 
during the first Esopus war. 

2 Esopus is supposed' to be derived from 
Seepus, a river. Reichel says : " A Sopus 
Indian, or a loivlander." 

* Maringoman's " castle" and Maringo- 
man's " wigwam" are spoken of in dif- 
ferent deeds. The first was on the north 
end of the Schunamunck mountain on 
the south side of Murderer's creek, in the 
present town of Bloominggrove, and is par- 
ticularly described as being " opposite the 




Maringoman's Castle. 

wa principal chiefs. 

2d. The IVarranawonkongs.* 



house where John McLean now (1756), 
dwells, near the said kill." He subse- 
quently removed to what is called a 
" wigwam," which stood " on the north 
bank of Murderer's creek, where Col. 
Matthews lives." The location is in 
Hamptonburgh, on the point of land 
formed by the junction of the Otter kill 
and the Grey Court creek, by which 
Murderer's creek is formed, and which 
takes its name at that point, as though 
some dark memory was associated with 
the name of its owner. 

* " A little beyond, on the west side, 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



95 



Dans-kammer to the Katskill mountains, or more properly 
perhaps to the Saugerties, and embraced the waters of the Sha- 
waugunk, the Wallkill and the Esopus rivers. Their principal 
castle was in the Shawangunk country, although a very consi- 
derable one was on the Esopus river, known as Wiltmeet. The 
" oldest and best of their chiefs," Preummaker, was killed in 
the war of 1663, as was also Papequanaehen. In their treaty 
with Stuyvesant, in 1664, they were represented by Sewacke- 
namo, sachem, and Onackatin and Powsawagh, chiefs. In 
the subsequent treaty of 1669, the five sachemdoms of the 
Esopus country were represented in the persons of Onackatin, 
Napashequiqua, Sewackenamo, Shewotin, and Calcop. In 
the Dongan purchase of 1684, Pemerawaghin appears as 
chief sachem. 

3d. The Mamekotings. The district inhabited by the Mame- 
kotings was west of the Shawangunk mountains and is still 
known as the Mamakating valley. Their history is so intimately 
blended with that of the Esopus Indians that identification is 
impossible further than by title. They were evidently one of 
the " five tribes," and may be designated as the third. 

4th. The Wawarsinks. The fourth of the Esopus chieftain- 
cies, the Wawarsinks, inhabited the district of country which 
still bears their name. Separate from the Esopus Indians they 
have no history. 

5th. The Katskills. The fifth and last of the Esopus chief- 
taincies 1 inhabited the territory north of Saugerties, forming 
the eastern water-shed of the Katskill mountains, 2 including the 
Sager's creek, the Kader's creek, and the Kats kill, from which 
latter they took their name. 3 They were the " loving people " 
described by Hudson ; a neutral and not very courageous peo- 

where there is a creek, and the river be- the Katskill Indians ; the waters flowing 

comes more shallow, the Warranaiuon- west to the Schoharie creek being the 

kongs reside." — De Laet. property of the Mohawks. — History of 

"These following Esopus Indians." — Neiv Nether/and, 1, 435. 
Deed to Wm. Lover idge. 3 Brodhead locates here some families 

2 In giving the boundaries of the Coey- of Nanticokes, and it is possible that when 

man's purchase, O'Callaghan states that that nation " disappeared without glory," 

the line followed Coxackie creek to its some of its members were induced thither 

head ; then ran west until it struck the either as recruits of the Minsis or the 

head of the waters falling into the Hud- Mohawks, but their more considerable 

son, all the land on which belonged to emigration was to Pennsylvania. 



96 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



pie, as may be inferred from Kregier's account of them. 1 Their 
chief, in 1663, was known as Long Jacob. Mahak Niminaw 
sachem in 1682. 2 Above the Katskills came the Mefhkento- 
woons of the Mahicans, but with boundary undefined. 

6th. The Minntsinks. West of the Esopus country, and in- 
habiting the Delaware and its tributaries were the Minsis proper 
of whom a clan more generally known as the Minnisinks held 
the south-western parts of the present counties of Orange and 
Ulster, and north-western New Jersey. Van der Donck de- 
scribes their district as " Minnessinck of 'tLandt van Bacham," 
and gives them three villages : Schepinaikonck, Meochkonck, and 
Macharienkonck, the latter in the bend of the Delaware oppo- 
site Port Jervis, and preserved perhaps in the name Mahacke- 
meck. 3 On Sauthier's map, Minnisink, the capital of the clan, 
is located some ten miles south of Mahackemeck, in New Jer- 
sey. Very little is known of the history of the clan as distin- 
guished from the tribe of which they were part, although the au- 
thorities of New York had communication with them, and the 
missionary, Brainerd, visited them. Tradition gives to them 
the honor of holding the capital of the tribe in years anterior to 
the advent of the Europeans. Defrauded and maltreated, they 
subsequently exacted a terrible compensation for their wrongs. 

VI. The Iroquois. 

1 st. The Moh aw ks. The territory occupied by the Mohawks 
has already been sufficiently described, as well as that of their 
associate tribes of the Iroquois confederacy. The Mohawks 
had no villages immediately upon the Hudson, although they 



1 " Examined the Squaw prisoner and 
inquired if she were not acquainted with 
some Esopus Indians who abode about 
here ? She answered that some Katskill 
Indians lay on the other side near the 
Sager's kill, but they would not fight 
against the Dutch." — Documentary His- 
tory, iv, 48. 

2 " Mahak Niminaw shall have, as 
being sachem of Katskill, two fathoms 
of duffels and an anker of rum when he 
comes home." — Deed to Wm. Loneridge. 

3 On the east bank of the Neversink 
river, three miles above Point Jervis, on 
the farm now or late of Mr. Levi Van 
Etten, exists: an Indian burial ground, the 



graves covering an area of six acres. 
Skeletons have been unearthed, and 
found invariably in a sitting posture, sur- 
rounded by tomahawks, arrow-heads, 
etc. In one grave was found a sheet iron 
tobacco box containing a hankerchief 
covered with devices, employed doubtless 
to preserve the record of its owner's ser- 
vices. Not far from the grounds is the 
Willehoosa, a cavern in the rocks on the 
side of the Shawangunk mountain. It 
contains three apartments, each about the 
size of an ordinary room. Indian im- 
plements of various kinds have been 
found there. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



97 



claimed title to the lands north of the Mohawk river. Their 
principal villages or castles, in 1677, were on the north side of 
the Mohawk, in the present counties of Montgomery and Her- 
kimer, and were : 1. Cahaniaga, or Gandaougue, by the Dutch 
called Kaghnewage, and more modernly known as Caghnawaga ; 
2. Gandagaro, or Kanagaro ; 3. Canajorha, or Canajoharie, 
and 4. Tionondogue or Tionnontoguen. The first contained 
twenty-four houses ; the second, sixteen ; the third, sixteen, 
and the fourth thirty. 1 Tionondogue was the capital of the tribe. 
It was destroyed by the French in 1667, and rebuilt about one 
mile further west. It was again destroyed by the French in 
1693, but does not appear to have been rebuilt, as soon after 
that time Canajoharie is spoken of as the " upper Mohawk 
castle." 2 It was at the latter that Hendrick and his brother 
Abraham resided, as well as Joseph Brant. The house occu- 
pied by the former, and also by the latter, was situated near 
what is now known as " Indian castle church," in Danube, 
Herkimer county. Caghnawaga was the scene of early conflict 
between the Mohawks and the Mahicans ; it was destroyed by the 
French in 1693, and subsequently by the Americans. It was 
long known as the " lower Mohawk castle," and occupied the 
site of the present village of Fonda, Montgomery county. 
Gandagaro passed out of existence with the second French in- 
vasion, or at least is lost to the records after 1693. In 1690, a 
new castle was erected at the mouth of Schoharie creek and 
called Tiononderoge, after the name of the ancient capital 
of the tribe, but v/as more generally known as " the castle of 
the praying Maquas." It was situated on the site of what was 
subsequently known as Fort Hunter. Its occupants were 
called the Schoharie Indians. It was among them that several 
families of Esopus Indians were settlers in 1756. After the 
revolution the Mohawks had neither castles nor villages in their 
ancient territory. 

2d. The Qneidas, etc. The Oneida s had, in 1677, one 
town, " the old Oneida castle," as it was called, containing one 

1 Colonial History, m, 250"; BrodhiacTs seven Mohawk villages, but they are not 
Neiv York, 11, 129. Pierron, the Jesuit located. 

missionary, it is said, visited every week 8 Colonial History , vi, 850. 



98 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



hundred houses ; the Onondagas, a palisaded town of one hun- 
dred and forty houses, and a village of twenty-four houses ; 1 the 
Cayugas three towns, and the Senecas four. 2 

The capital of the confederacy was the village of Onondaga, 
on the lake of that name, the principal settlement of the Onon- 
dagas. Bishop Cammerhof, who visited it in 1751, says, 
" Onondaga, the chief town of the six nations, situated in 
a very pleasant and fruitful country, and consisting of five 
small towns and villages, through which the river Zinochsaa 
runs." In the Relations of the Jesuit missionaries it is said : 
" The word Onnota, which signifies in the Iroquois tongue, a 
mountain, has given the name to the village called Onnontae, 
or as others call it, Onnontague, because it is on a mountain ; 
and the people who inhabit it consequently style themselves 
Onnontae-ronnons, or Onnontague-ronnons." 

lr The great villages of the Onnonta- the number then known. It is subse- 

gues consists of one hundred cabins. — quently stated that forty towns existed in 

Colonial History, ix, 375. the three western cantons. — Journal of 

2 Colonial History, 111, 250. This was Sullivan s Expedition. 




Indian Fort. 
Onondaga, the Capital of the Five 
Nations — 1 609. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



99 



CHAPTER V. 

The Indians under the Dutch — The Manhattan 
Wars — From the Discovery to the Peace of 1645. 

ROM the first hour of Hudson's appearance in the 
waters of the Mahicanituk, to the last of the domina- 
tion of Holland, there was an antagonism between 
the Dutch and the Indians with whom they came in 
contact in the vicinity of Manhattan island, and a conflict which 
was apparently irrepressible. While in the territory of the Ma- 
hicans proper Hudson met " loving men," in that of the Wap- 
pingers and the Minsis, he dyed the waters of the river which 
he had discovered with the blood of those who were encouraged 
by his overtures to a violation of laws to which they were 
strangers, and his exit was amid the terrifying war-cries of a 
people enraged by the slaughter of kindred, and clouds darkened 
by their quivering arrows. 1 

Subsequent events in no degree mitigated the hostility which 
was then awakened. When the traders followed Hudson they 
paused not until they had reached the jurisdiction of those with 
whom his intercourse had been friendly. There they main- 
tained kindly relations with the Indians, and around their trading 
posts, Fort Nassau, and subsequently Fort Orange, 2 hed neu- 
tral ground between the contending Mahicans and Mohawks* 
But this alliance of friendship did. not relieve the Dutch from 
apprehended attacks on the part of those whom Hudson had 

1 Hudson 's Journal ; ante, p. n. unfortunate, in consequence of the ex- 

2 The first, or Fort Nassau, was erected posure to the spring freshets, and in 1618 
on what was called Castle island, now it was removed to the banks of the 
known as Boyd's island, a short dis- Tawalsontha creek, now called the Nor- 
tance below the Albany ferry. It was man's kill, from whence it was soon after 
a building twenty-six feet wide and removed further north and located in the 
thirty-six feet long, enclosed by a stock- vicinity of what is now South Broad- 
ade fifty-eight feet square, and the whole way, Albany, and called Fort Orange, 
surrounded by a moat eighteen feet wide, by which name, and that of Beaverwyck, 
Its armament consisted of two large guns the small settlement which gathered 
and eleven swivels, and the garrison of around it, it was known until 1664. 

ten or twelve men. The location proved 3 Ante, p. 54. 




100 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



offended, and it was deemed prudent to erect a fort on what 
was then known as Prince's island, and to garrison it with six- 
teen men for the defense of the river below. " x 

Contemporaneous circumstances contributed to keep alive 
this Reeling. One Jacob Eelkins, 2 who had been in superintend- 
ence of the trade at Fort Nassau, in the summer of 1622 
ascended the Connecticut to traffic, and while there treacher- 
ously imprisoned the chief of the Sequins on board his yacht, 
and would not release him until a ransom of one hundred and 
forty fathoms of wampum had been exacted. The offense was 
resented by all the tribes, and by none more so than by the 
Mahicans. To appease them, Eelkins was discharged, and 
apparently in further overture to them, Krieckbeck, the Dutch 
commander at Fort Orange, in 1626, joined them, with six men, 
on a hostile expedition against the Mohawks.* 

Other causes of grievance were not wanting. The sale of 
fire-arms to the Mahicans and Mohawks at Fort Orange and 
the refusal to sell to the chieftaincies in the vicinity of Fort Am- 
sterdam 4 was a constant irritation, to allay which the Dutch 
traders treated the Indians at the latter place with great fami- 
liarity, invited them tp their houses, admitted them to their 
tables, and gave them wine, until they came to regard such 
civilities as their due and to resent their absence. Then the 
cattle of the Dutch roamed at large, " without a herdsman," 
and " frequently came into the corn of the Indians, which was 
unfenced on all sides, committing great damage there. This 
led to complaints on their part and finally to revenge on the 



1 fVassenaar, Documentary History , in, 
35. The location of this fort has never 
been positively ascertained. 

3 W assenaar, Documentary History f ni, 
45 5 BrodAead, i, 146, 168. 

3 Brodhcad, 1, 168. The expedition 
was not successful. Krieckbeck and 
three of his men were killed, and the 
Mahicans put to flight. The Mohaivks 
did not resent the alliance further than 
to roast and eat one of the Dutch soldiers, 
a man named Tyman Bouwensen ; but 
Minuit deemed it prudent, during the 
continuance of hostilities, to remove the 
Dutch families to Fort Amsterdam, and 
to direct the garrison at Fort Orange to 



observe strict neutrality in the future. 

4 Precisely to what extent the Indians 
in the vicinity of Fort Amsterdam were 
supplied with arms in 1643, does not 
appear. It is said by the Eight Men, 
in October of that year : " These Indians 
are, on the contrary, strong and mighty $ 
have, one with the other, made alliances 
with seven different tribes, well supplied 
with guns, powder and ball." [Colonial 
History , 1, 190) ; yet there is not a single 
case of the use of fire arms by the In- 
dians recorded. Even in their most 
desperate defenses bows and arrows are 
alone spoken of as their weapons. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



101 



cattle, without sparing even the horses." In 1626, a Weck- 
quaesgeek Indian, accompanied by his nephew, who was a 
" small boy," and another savage, while on their way to the 
fort to trade, were met and robbed by men in the employ of 
Minuit, the Dutch director, and in the melee the Weckquaes- 
geek was killed. The act was unknown to the Dutch at the 
time, but the boy treasured a revenge which he forgot not to 
exact in manhood. 

As the Dutch settlers took up lands on Long Island and the 
New Jersey shore, they made frequent complaints that their 
cattle were stolen by the Indians. Regarding the latter as the 
aggressors in all cases, Director Kieft, who had in the mean- 
time succeeded Minuit, determined, in 1639, to demand from 
them tribute, not only as compensation, but to aid in establishing 
his government over them, and for that purpose sent an armed 
sloop to the Tappans to exact contributions of corn and wam- 
pum. The Indians expressed their astonishment at this pro- 
ceeding, and denounced " the sakema of the fort " for daring 
to attempt such exactions. Sneers and reproaches followed. 
" The sakema," they said, " must be a mean fellow ; he had 
not invited them to come and live here, that he should now 
take away their corn." A formal conference was held with 
the Indians, but the latter refused to yield the contributions 
asked. 

An open rupture soon followed. Some pigs were stolen from 
De Vries's plantation on Staten island, as it subsequently appeared 
" by the servants of the company, .then (1640) going to the 
South river to trade, and who landed on the island to take in 
wood and water ; " but, as Kieft professed to believe, by the 
Indians. He accused the Raritans of the offense, and, on the 
sixteenth of July, commissioned Secretary Van Tienhoven to 
proceed, with one hundred men, to their territory and demand 
satisfaction. The Raritans denied the commission of the offense, 
and satisfied the secretary ; but the troops under him were bent 
on mischief, and scarcely had he left them when they made an 
attack, killed several of the Indians, took one of their chiefs 

1 De Vries, New York Historial Society Raedt, Documentary History, iv, ioi, ioa. 
Collection:, ad series, i, 263 j Breeden 



102 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



captive, and mangled the body .of another. The Raritans 
retaliated by attacking De Vries's plantation, killed four of his 
planters and burned his dwelling and tobacco house. Kieft 
followed with a proclamation announcing the policy of exter- 
mination, and offering a bounty of ten fathoms of wampum for 
the head of every Raritan which should be brought to him. 
Holding their own grievances in abeyance, some of the Long 
Island warriors took up the hatchet against the Raritans, and 
brought in at least one head for the director's gratification, but 
the great body of the Indians refused the tempting offer. 

Meanwhile the Weckquaesgeek boy had grown to manhood, 
and determined to exact his long meditated atonement for 
the death of his uncle. Taking with him some beaver skins to 
barter, he stopped at the house of one Claes Smit, " a harm- 
less Dutchman," and while he was stooping over a chest in 
which he kept his goods, the savage seized an axe and killed 
him by a blow on the neck ; then quickly plundering his 
abode, escaped to the woods. Kieft demanded satisfaction, but 
the Weckquaesgeeks refused to deliver up the murderer. He 
then summoned all the heads of families of Manhattan to a 
meeting and laid the matter before them, especially asking if it 
was not just that the murder should be avenged, and if in case the 
Weckquaesgeeks would not surrender the murderer, it would not 
be "just to destroy the whole village" to which he belonged ; 
and if so, in what manner, when, and by whom such chastise- 
ment should be inflicted. The meeting referred the pro- 
position to " twelve select men," who, with greater discernment 
of the consequences of an open rupture with the Indians than 
the director, reported that while the murder should be avenged 
they thought " God and the opportunity should be taken into 
consideration," and that in the meantime the director should 
make suitable arrangements for sustaining an attempt at inflicting 
punishment. In case hostilities should be inaugurated, they 
thought the director should " lead the van," while the commu- 
nity should " follow his steps and obey his commands." They 
advised, however, as an offset to this quiet bit of sarcasm, that 
before anything else was done the director should send up a shallop 
to the Weckquaesgeeks to demand of them " once, twice, yea for 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



103 



a third time," the surrender of the murderer in a " friendly 
manner. " 

Offended and bent on war, Kieft " would not listen." Re- 
maining inactive until November, he consulted each of the 
u twelve" separately on the question of immediate hostilities - y but 
the latter remained firmly opposed. In the winter he repeated 
this consultation, and urged that the Indians were absent from 
their village on hunting expeditions, and that arrangements 
should be made at once to destroy them. The "twelve" con- 
sented, unwillingly, and on assurances that an attack should 
only be made after repeated solicitations had failed to secure 
the surrender of the murderer. Kieft did not long delay an 
attempt to execute his atrocious design. In March (1642), 
he dispatched a company of eighty men, under command of 
Ensign Hendrick Van Dyck, with instructions to fall upon the 
W '.ckaquaesgeeks, " who lay in their village suspecting nothing," 
and punish them with fire and sword. Fortunately the guide 
missed his way, and the expedition was compelled to return to 
Fort Amsterdam " in all the mortification of failure." The re- 
sult, however, was that the Indians, on discovering the trail 
of Kieft's men, and detecting his intention, became alarmed 
and asked that peace might be maintained. Kieft consented 
on condition that the murderer of Smit was delivered up, and 
on this basis a treaty, as it was called, was concluded with them. 
But it was not fulfilled by either of the contracting parties ; the 
arrest of an Indian, whose action had been in strict accordance 
with the laws and customs of his tribe, was a process of very 
difficult accomplishment. 

Soon after this occurrence the Dutch were terribly frightened. 
Miantonomo, the " principal sachem " of the Narragansetts, 
having a controversy pending with Uncas, visited the Manhat- 
tans with an hundred men, and passed through all the Mahican 
villages to secure their alliance for the destruction of his rival. 
The Dutch, however, gave to him a different mission. From a 
whispered suspicion it grew to public clamor, that the embassy 
had no less an object than to secure the union of all the Indians 
in a " general war against both the English and the Dutch." 
The story spread to New England, where its falsity was demon- 



104 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



strated ; 1 but in the meanwhile the inhabitants at New Amster- 
dam saw the hand of hostile Indians in every thing ; believed 
that they had attempted to destroy the settlement by setting fire 
to its powder-magazine, and the director by poisoning him " or 
enchanting him by their deviltry." 2 

The storm passed over only to be succeeded by another. The 
Hackinsacks and Tappans had hitherto escaped special irritating 
collisions with the Dutch. True, the Tappans had resisted the 
attempt to place them under tribute, but this attempt appears to 
have been abandoned. De Vries 3 had settled among the latter, 
after the disaster which befel him on Staten island, and by 
kindly treatment had won their confidence. Circumstances, 
however, forced them to take up the hatchet. Contrary to the 
advice of the director, and in opposition to the wishes of a ma- 
jority of the Hackinsacks^ one Myndert Van der Horst 4 pur- 
chased a tract near Communipaw and made settlement thereon. 
While visiting this settlement a Hackinsack warrior became in- 
toxicated, and was robbed of his beaver-skin coat. When the 
stupor passed off and he became conscious of the imposition 
which had been practiced upon him, he vowed he would go 
home for his bow and arrows and shoot the " roguish Swanne- 
kin " (as the Dutch were called), who had taken his things, and 
faithfully did he keep his vow. Watching his opportunity, he 
shot one of the colonists, Garret Jansen Van Voorst, as he was 
thatching the roof of one of Van der Horst's houses. The 
chiefs of his tribe, anxious to keep unbroken friendly relations 
with the Dutch, hastened to De Vries to secure h ; s counsel and 
intercession. They dared not go to Fort Amsterdam for fear 
Kieft would keep them prisoners, but they were willing to make 
the " blood atonement of money " customary among the tribes, 
and offered two hundred fathoms of wampum to the family of 

1 Hubbard's Indian Wan^ 44. 4 Myndert Myndertsen Van der Horst 

a The superstitious fears of the Dutch purchased and located on a tract " within 

and the English were alike strongly an hour's walk of Vriesendael." His 

worked upon by the skill of the Indians plantation extended from Archer Cul 

in jugglery. bay north towards Tappan, and included 

3 De Vries purchased from the Tappans the valley of the Hackinsack river. The 

a tract of about five hundred acres in head quarters of the settlement were 

April, 1 640 ; made settlement thereon about five or six hundred paces from the 

the subsequent year, and gave to it the principal village of the Hackinsacks. 
name of Vriesendael. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



105 



the murdered man as the price of peace. Persuaded by De 
Vries, who became answerable for their safe return, the chiefs 
visited the fort with him, and there repeated their offer. 
Kieft refused to accept the wampum, and demanded the mur- 
derer. The chiefs could not comply ; the murderer had sought 
refuge among the Tankitekes, and besides he was the son of a 
chief and could not be surrendered. They then renewed their 
expiatory offer, but it was again refused, and they returned to 
their homes hopeless of effecting reconciliation. 

These collisions and causes of grievance culminated in the 
winter of 1643, wnen Director Kieft threw off all disguise and 
disgraced even savage modes of warfare by a blackening hypo- 
crisy and a massacre more terrible than any of which their 
annals bear record. In February of that year a party of eighty 
Mahicans, " each with a musket on his shoulder," made a descent 
on some of the old Manhattan chieftaincies, for the purpose of 
collecting tribute which had been withheld. 1 Surprised, and 
wholly unable from inferiority in arms to cope with their adver- 
saries, the assailed Indians fled to Fort Amsterdam for protec- 
tion, leaving seventeen of their number dead and a considerable 
portion of their women and children prisoners in the hands of 
their enemies. The Dutch kindly cared for the fugitives and 
supported them for fourteen days j but, again alarmed for their 
safety, they scattered themselves among the Hackinsacks and 
Tappans, while others fled to Vriesendael to beg assistance and 
protection. De Vries promised to do all in his power for them, 
and accordingly went, in a canoe, through the floating ice, to 
Fort Amsterdam, to ask Kieft to assist him with some soldiers. 
The director, however, claimed that he had none to spare ; 
and the next day the Indians left Vriesendael, some going to 

1 Brodhead and others assert that this sis that the Mahicans would not attack 
foray was by Mohawks. The document- those regarded as their own people, and 
ary proof, however, is that it was made that the Mohawks alone were armed, 
by the Mahicans. "The Mahlcan In- The fact distinctly appears, however, that 
dians, who, surprising, slew full seventy not only were the Mahicans armed, but 
of them " — Colonial History, i, 151. that the " old Manhattans " had neglected 
" The Mahicanders dwelling below Fort to pay them the tribute due from con- 
Orange, who slew," etc. — Ibid., 184. quered tribes. That no other chieftaincies 
" The Indians, the Mayekanders, who than those of the Weckquaesgeek district 
came from Fort Orange " — De Vries. were visited, is additional proof that it 
The conclusion that it was by the Mo- was by the Mahicans. 
hawks is apparently based on the hypothe- 



106 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Pavonia 1 among the Hackinsacks^ who were " full a thousand 
strong," and others to Rechtauck (now Corlear's hook) where 
they occupied some cabins which had been erected by the 
Reckawancks. 

Made acquainted with these facts, the people of New Amster- 
dam were divided in opinion as to the proper policy to be pur- 
sued. The majority, under the lead of De Vries, counseled 
patience, humanity and kindness, such as had been extended 
to the fugitives when they first fled thither for protection. 
Another party, headed by Van Tienhoven, provincial secretary, 
masking their action under professions of indignation at the 
shedding of innocent Christian blood, clamored for the extermi- 
nation of the Indians. A petition was circulated by the latter, 
and obtained some signatures, reminding the director that God 
had now supplied the " opportunity " which the " twelve " 
had suggested should be awaited, and asking permission to 
" attack and destroy the enemy which had been delivered into" 
their hands, and " that one party, composed of freemen, and 
another of soldiers, be dispatched to different places against 
them." 2 The petition was resisted by De Vries and others, 
who warned the director against so gross a breach of Indian 
and civilized laws of hospitality; but Keift, who had long 
before taken his position on the subject, readily' complied with 
the request of the petitioners, and issued an order that the 
Indians should be attacked by two divisions, one at Pavonia and 
the other at Cprlear's hook, the former to be by the soldiers 
under the command of Sergeant Rodolf, and the latter by the 
burghers headed by Maryn Andriaensen. 3 



1 Michael Pauw purchased from the 
Indians the tract now included in Hobo- 
ken and Jersey City, and established there 
a colony to which he gave the name of 
Pavonia. — Brodbcad, i, 203. 

3 Colonial History ^ in, 146} 0 ' Callaghan, 
1, 266 ; Brodbead, 1, 349. The Narra- 
tive is principally by De Vries. 

" 3 We, therefore, hereby authorize 
Maryn Adriansen, at his request, with 
his associates, to attack a party of sa- 
vages skulking behind Corlear's hook, or 
plantation, and act with them in every 
such manner as they shall deem proper 



and the time and opportunity shall permit. 
Sergeant Rodolf is commanded and au- 
thorized to take under his command a 
troop of soldiers and lead them to Pa- 
vonia, and drive away and destroy the 
savages being behind Jan Evertsen's, but 
to spare, as much as possible, their wives 
and children, and to take the savages 
prisoners.* * The exploit to be exe- 
cuted at night, with the greatest caution 
and prudence. Our God may bless the 
expedition. Done' Feb. 24th, 1643." — 
0 'Callaghan, 1, 267, 268. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



107 



The plan was executed on the night of the 25th of February. 
The Indians had gathered behind Pauw's settlement at Pavonia, 
unsuspicious of attack from those to whose shelter they had fled, 
and were sleeping in conscious security when the work of death 
commenced. Loud shrieks first announced to DeVries, who 
was watching at Fort Amsterdam, that the slaughter had begun, 
but these shrieks were succeeded by the stolid indifference with 
which the red man always met his fate, and nothing was heard 
but the report of fire-arms. Neither age nor sex were spared. 
Warrior and squaw, sachem and chief, mother and babe, were 
alike massacred. DeVries describes the terrible tragedy in 
pointed language. Children were taken from the arms of their 
mothers and butchered in the presence of their parents, and 
their mangled limbs thrown into the fire or the water. " Other 
sucklings had been fastened to little boards, and in this position 
they were cut to pieces. Some were thrown in the river, and 
when the parents rushed in to save them, the soldiers prevented 
their landing and let parents and children drown." The next 
morning some of the Indians, who had escaped the midnight 
slaughter, came to the fort begging for shelter, but instead of 
receiving it, were killed in cold blood or thrown into the river. 1 
Continues DeVries, " some came running to us from the coun- 
try, having their hands cut ofF ; some lost both arms and legs ; 
some were supporting their entrails with their hands, while others 
were mangled in other horrid ways, too horrid to be conceived. 
And these miserable wretches, as well as many of the Dutch, 
were all the time under the impression that the attack had pro- 
ceeded from their Indian enemies " — were unwilling to believe 
that men professing the Christian name could be guilty of so 
gross a violation of Christian principles. 

With an aching heart, DeVries returned to his home, and 
had scarcely arrived when some of the fugitives gathered around 
him. " The Fort Orange Indians have fallen upon us," said 
they, " and we have come to hide ourselves in your fort." " It 
is no time to hide yourselves in the fort; no Indians have done 

1 " I am told for a fact that a certain lyn, towards morning the poor child, 

skipper, Isaac Abrahamsen, having saved overcome with cold and hunger, made 

a boy, and hidden him under the sails, in some noise, and was heard by the soldiers, 

order to give him to one Cornelius Me- eighteen Dutch tigers dragged (him) from 



108 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



this deed ; it is the work of the Swannekens," answered De 
Vries, and he led the fugitives to the gate, " where stood no 
sentinel," and bade them seek shelter in the forest depths. 
Meanwhile the victorious expeditions returned to Fort Amster- 
dam and reported, as the result of their work, that eighty Indians 
had been slaughtered at Pavonia and thirty at Corlear's hook, 
while with them were thirty prisoners. Kieft received his free- 
booters and soldiers with thanks, rewards and congratulations ; 
while Van Tienhoven's mother, forgetful of the finer feelings 
which do honor to her sex, amused herself, it is stated, by 
kicking about the heads of the dead men which had been brought 
in as trophies of the midnight slaughter. 1 

The first notes of triumph had barely faded from the air, 
however, ere the hand of revenge was made red with the blood 
of the Dutch. Kieft, in the exultation of the moment, sent out 
foraging expeditions to collect corn. One of these expeditions 
seized two wagon loads from the Long Island Indians, who lost 
three of their number in endeavoring to save their property. 
In retaliation, the Montauk and the Hackinsack and Tappan 
chieftaincies made common cause with the W tckquaesgeeks* 
who had suffered in the February attack, and who had learned 
fully that the Dutch, and not the Mahicans, had been the 
principals in the massacre of their kindred, and the toma- 
hawk, the scalping knife and the firebrand executed the work of 
vengeance. " From swamps and thickets the mysterious enemy 
made' his sudden onset. The farmer was murdered in the open 
field ; women and children, granted their lives, were swept off 
into long captivity ; houses and bouweries, hay-stacks and grain, 
cattle and crops, were all destroyed." 3 Even Vriesendael did 

under the sails, in spite of the endeavors only three remained on the Manhattes, 

of the skipper, cut (him) in two and and two on Staten island, and the greater 

threw (him) overboard." — Breeden Raedt. part of the cattle were destroyed. What- 

1 O^Callaghan, i, 269. " It is a scandal ever remained of these had to be kept in 
for our nation," says the author of Bree- a very small enclosure, except in Rensse- 
den Raedt, " and if silence would have laer's colonie, lying on the North river, 
remedied it, I should never have men- in the neighborhood of Fort Orange, 
tioned it." which experienced no trouble and enjoyed 

2 The narrative speaks of the Week- peace, because they continued to sell fire- 
quaesgeeks, the Sint-Sings, and the Kickta- arms and powder to the Indians even 
wanes in different places. during the war against our people." — 

8 Brod/iead, 1, 354. "Almost all the Report, etc.. Colonial History, 1, 151. 
bouweries were also destroyed, so that 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



109 



not escape the general calamity. The outhouses, and crops 
and cattle were destroyed. DeVries and his colonists,»however, 
escaped into the manor house or fort, which had been constructed 
with loop-holes for musketry, and were standing on their defense, 
when an Indian whom DeVries had sheltered on the morning 
of the massacre came up to the besiegers, related the occurrence 
and told them DeVries was " a good chief." The Indians at 
once raised the siege, and expressed their regret that they had 
destroyed the cattle ; they would let the little brewery of their 
Dutch friends stand, although they longed for the copper kettle 
to make barbs for their arrows. 1 

The Dutch were thrown into great consternation and fled to 
Fort Amsterdam for protection, with bitter upbraidings on their 
lips against the director. He met them defiantly at first, and 
professed to have been controlled by the wishes of Andriaensen ; 
but the latter denied the assertion, and carried his determination 
to escape the popular condemnation into an attempt upon the life 
of the director. 2 But the accumulating evidences of desolation 
brought ruler and people to repentance. For that mercy which 
he had refused to extend to the helpless Indians, Kieft besought 
the people to ask of the Most High, and to that end appointed 
a day of fasting and prayer, in his proclamation confessing that 
the calamities which had overtaken them was doubtless owing 
to the sins which he and his people had committed. While 
the latter humbled themselves before God, they had little charity 
in their hearts for the direct author of their calamities, and asked 
one another, " Did ever the duke of Alba do more evil in the 
Netherlands ? " 

Matters assumed a more favorable aspect in the spring. The 
Long Island Indians, although previously rejecting the overtures 
made by the director for peace, and denouncing him as a " corn 
thief," became more tractable when the planting season came 
on, and sent from the wigwams of Penhawitz, " their great 
chief," three delegates to Fort Amsterdam, desiring that nego- 
tiations might be opened. De Vries and Alferton were at once 

1 De Vries, 269$ New York Historical ing of me? but by the promptness of the 
Society Collections, 2d series, 1, 269 ; bystanders the shot was prevented, and 
Brodhead, 1, 255. he was arrested." — Colonial History, 1, 

2 " What devilish lies art thou report- 184. 



110 



THE INDUN TRIBES 



appointed to accompany them, and setting out on the 4th of 
March, came to Rechquaakie or Rockaway, where they found 
Penhawitz, surrounded by nearly three hundred warriors and 
a village of thirty wigwams. The next day they were 
conducted into the woods about four hundred yards off, where 
they found sixteen chiefs of the Montauks, with whom the con- 
ference was conducted in the Indian form. 1 De Vries invited 
the chiefs to accompany him to Fort Amsterdam, under the 
assurance of presents and peace. The latter embraced the 
offer, and, to the number of eighteen, embarked in a large canoe 
and reached the fort in the evening. After some days spent 
in negotiation a treaty was concluded on the 25th, and the chiefs 
dismissed with presents and solicited to bring to the fort the 
chiefs of the river families " who had lost so many " of their 
number. The Long Island sachem accordingly went to Hack- 
insack and Tappan, but weeks elapsed before negotiations were 
concluded. Oritany, sachem of the Hackinsacks, after consulta- 
tion with his allies, finally appeared at Fort Amsterdam, clothed 
with authority to conclude a peace both for his own and the 
neighboring chieftaincies. The opportunity was embraced by 
the director and the following treaty agreed to : 

" This day, the twenty-second of April, 1643, between Wil- 
liam Kieft, director general and the council of New Netherland, 
on the one side, and Oratatum, sachem of the savages residing 
at Ack-kinkashacky, who declared that he was delegated by 
and for those of Tappaen, Reckawawanc, Kitchawanc^ and Sint- 
Sinck^ on the other side, is a peace concluded in the following 
manner, to wit: 

1 " We were awakened and led by one one point of accusation. The men whom 

of the Indians in the woods upwards of in your first trips you left here to barter 

400 paces from the house, where we your goods till your return, these men 

found sixteen chiefs from Long Island, have been treated by us as we would have 

who placed themselves in a circle around done by our eye-balls. We gave them 

us. One of them had a bundle of small our daughters for wives, by whom they 

sticks. He was the best speaker, and had children. There are now several 

commenced his speech. He related that Indians, who came from the blood of the 

when we first arrived on their shores, we Swannekins and that of Indians ; and 

were sometimes in want of food j they these their own blood were now murdered 

gave us their beans and corn, and let us in such villainous manner. He laid down 

eat oysters and fish ; and now for recom- another stick." — De Tries, New Tork 

pense we murdered their people. He Historical Society Collections, 2d series, 1, 

here laid down one little stick} this was 271. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



Ill 



" All injustices committed by the said natives against the 
Netherlanders, or by the Netherlander against said natives, 
shall be forgiven and forgotten forever, reciprocally promising, 
one the other, to cause no trouble, the one to the other ; but 
whenever the savages understand that any nation not mentioned 
in this treaty, may be plotting mischief against the Christians, 
then they will give to them a timely warning, and not admit 
such a nation within their own limits. " x 

This peace was one of necessity on the part of the Indians. 
The Hackinsack sachem received his presents, but complained 
of their insufficiency, saying that his young men would only 
regard them as a trifling atonement ; and such they not only 
were, but they were received as the sachem had indicated. At 
midsummer the sachem visited Vriesendael and stated that the 
young men of his people were urging war ; that some had lost 
fathers and mothers in the February massacre, and all were 
mourning over the memory of friends ; that the presents which 
had been given to them were not worth the touch, and that 
they could be no longer pacified. At the request of De Vries, 
the sachem accompanied him to Fort Amsterdam, where, on 
repeating his complaint, Kieft replied that he should cause his 
young Indians who wanted war, to be shot. Kieft then offered 
him two hundred fathoms of wampum, but the sachem spurned 
the bribe, and, after promising to do his best to pacify his people, 
went his way. 

With the renewal of difficulties in New England, in Septem- 
ber (1643), war again broke out at New Amsterdam. " Pachem, 
a crafty man, ran through all the villages, urging the Indians to 
a general massacre." The first aggressive act was by the 
Wappingersf who seized a boat coming from Fort Orange, 
killed two men and took four hundred beaver skins. Others 
followed this example, " so that they seized two boats more," 
but were driven off, with the loss of six of their number, in 

1 0' Callaghan 1, 27 7 . De Vries, Col- surprised at the attack by the Tf appingers, 
lections Neiv Tork Historical Society, 2d and protested that they had never had any 
series, 1, 270. It will be observed that trouble with them. In this they were 
neither the Weckquaesgeeks or Manhattans mistaken, as the testimony shows that 
are mentioned in the treaty, a fact which nearly all their troubles were with that 
indicates the local character of both titles, tribe. 

2 Doc. Hist., iv, 12. The Dutch were 



112 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



attacking the fourth boat. " Nine Christians, including two 
women," were killed in these captured boats, one woman and 
two children remaining prisoners. " The other Indians," con- 
tinues the narrative, " so soon as their maize was ripe, followed 
this example, and through semblance of selling beavers, killed 
an old man and woman, leaving another man with five wounds, 
who, however, fled in a boat with a little child on his arm, who, 
in the first outbreak had lost father and mother, and now grand- 
father and grandmother, being thus twice rescued from the 
hands of the Indians, first when he was two years old." Nor 
was this all. Under the pretense of warning from approaching 
danger, the Indians visited dwellings and killed the inmates, 
and applied the brand to factories and outbuildings. The few 
families who had settled in the Esopus country abandoned their 
farms in alarm, and universal fear pervaded the province. 

Kieft now called his people together again, and a committee 
of " eight men " was appointed to consult with him. for the 
defense of the colony. Before any arrangement had been made, 
however, the Weckquaesgeeks attacked the plantation of Ann 
Hutchinson, 1 killed that extraordinary woman and her married 
daughter and son-in-law, and carried off captive her youngest 
daughter. 2 

Throgmorton's settlement 3 was next attacked and the build- 
ings burned, the inhabitants escaping in their boats. Eighteen 
victims, however, were added to the revenges of the Indians. 
Pavonia was attacked and four bouweries burned under the 
very guns of " two ships of war and a privateer." From the 



1 The history of Ann Hutchinson is 
pretty generally known. With Roger 
Williams, she was banished from Massa- 
chusetts, as " unfit for the society " of 
her fellow-citizens. She followed Wil- 
liams to Rhode Island, but fearing the 
power of Massachusetts would reach her 
there, removed, in 1642, to Manhattan 
and settled on a point now known as 
Pelham's neck. 

3 4< The Indians set upon them and 
slew her and all her children, save one 
that escaped (her own husband having 
died before), a dreadful blow ! Some 
write that the Indians did burn her to 
death with fire, her home and all the 



rest that belonged unto her, but I am 
not able to affirm by what kind of death 
they slew her." — Wild's Rise, Reign and 
Ruin of the Antinomians. " The daugh- 
ter of Ann Hutchinson remained a pri- 
soner four years, when she was delivered 
to the Dutch governor at Fort Amsterdam, 
who restored her to her friends. She 
had forgotten her"native tongue, and was 
unwilling to be taken from the In- 
dians." — O'Callaghan. 

3 Throgmorton was another refugee 
from Massachusetts. His settlement wa s 
a few miles west from that of Ann 
Hutchinson, and included the point now 
known as Throg's neck. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



113 



highlands of the Hudson to the highlands of the sea, the war- 
whoop was reechoed, and at a single blow " from the Never- 
sincks to the valley of the Tappans, the whole of New Jersey- 
was once more in the possession of its aboriginal lords." 1 
Fort Amsterdam afforded the only place of shelter, and thither 
the colonists fled. " There women and children lay concealed 
in straw huts, while their husbands and fathers mounted guard 
on the ramparts above." The whole force of the Dutch was 
scarce two hundred and fifty men, while the Indians were repre- 
sented by fifteen hundred of their most expert warriors, includ- 
ing the Wappingers of the Connecticut river, under the lead of 
Mayane, with whom the Dutch claimed they had never had any 
difficulty, but who then learned " for the first time that he and his 
Indians had done " them " much injury." 2 The position of the 
Dutch was perilous in the extreme. The Indians literally hung 
upon their necks with " fire and sword." 3 Had they known their 
own strength, the last refuge of the colonists would have fallen 
before them, but judging from their own modes of warfare, 
they feared to attack the fort and contented themselves with 
sweeping off the exposed plantations and with the terror which 
their presence inspired. 4 

Director Kieft now solicited aid from New England, offering 
" twenty-five thousand guilders " for one hundred and fifty men, 
and as a further consideration that New Netherland should be 
mortgaged to the English for the payment of the sum offered. 
Relief was also solicited from Holland ; but these applications 
were attended with only partial success, and the Dutch were 
thrown on their own resources, aided by a few English volun- 
teers under the command of Captain John Underhill. 5 Two 

1 The prowess of the Iroquois is affirmed without a strong escort. — Col. Hist. , i, 
in that they once placed Quebec in siege, 206, 211. 

yet Fort Amsterdam, more formidable 5 This Underhill was a terrible scourge 

than Quebec, was twice laid waste by the to the Indians. Engaged in New Eng- 

Indians in its vicinity. land wars, he spared neither the aged nor 

2 Documentary History, iv, 14. the young. " He could justify putting 
2 Colonial History, 182. the weak and defenceless to death, for 
4 " They rove in parties continually says he, ' the Scripture declare.th women 

around day and night on the island of and children must perish with their pa- 
Manhattans, slaying our folks not a thou- rents ' — { we had sufficient light from the 
sand paces from the fort, and 'tis now word of God for our proceedings.'" — 
arrived at such a pass, that no one dare Trumbull. 
move a foot to fetch a stick of fire wood 



114 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



companies were soon organized, one of sixty-five and one of 
seventy-five men, and the work of retaliation commenced. 
The second company was composed of forty burghers under 
Captain Pietersen, and thirty-five Englishmen under Lieutenant 
Baxter ; Councillor La Montagne acting as general. This 
company passed over to Staten island but found that the Indians, 
who had fallen back from the vicinity of the fort some time 
previously, had also abandoned their houses. Five or six 
hundred skepels of corn rewarded the invaders, but nothing was 
accomplished beyond its removal. Returning to the fort, the 
company was increased to one hundred and twenty men and 
sent to the Weckqdaesgeek country. Landing at Greenwich 
in the evening, from three yachts, they marched the entire night, 
but found nothing. Retreating through Stamford, they were 
told by the English that there were Indians in that vicinity. 
Scouts were sent out who returned with the location of an In- 
dian village. Twenty-five men were at once dispatched thither, 
and succeeded in killing a number and in capturing an old man, 
two women and some children. One of the captives offered 
to lead the expedition to the castles of the Weckquaesgeeks. 
Sixty-five men were sent with him and three castles found, but 
they had no tenants. Two of them were burned, and, after 
marching some thirty miles, the expedition returned, " having 
killed only one or two Indians, taken some women and children 
prisoners, and burnt some corn." 

Meanwhile Underhill, 1 with a company of Dutch and English, 
had passed over to Long Island to attack the Canarsees under 
Penhawitz. After landing, the force was divided; Underhill 
and fourteen Englishmen were to attack a small village at 
Hempstead, and Captain Pieter Cock, and General La Mon- 
tagne, with eighty men, were to reduce the more considerable 
village of Mespath. Both were successful; one hundred and 
twenty Indians were reported as having been killed, with a loss 
to the attacking forces of one man killed and three wounded. 2 
Seven prisoners were turned over to Underhill by the English 
minister, Fordam, at Hempstead. They had been arrested for 
stealing pigs and had been confined in Fordam's cellar. Under- 

1 He held the rank of sergeant-major. 2 Documentary History, iv, 16. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



115 



hill killed three of the seven in the cellar ; two were towed in 
the water until they were drowned, and two were taken to Fort 
Amsterdam, where, after a short time, they were turned over 
to the soldiers " to do as they pleased with," and by whom they 
were dispatched in the most brutal manner. 1 

The third and last expedition was now organized. Underhill 
having visited Stamford and learned that a large number of In- 
dians had assembled in one of their villages in that vicinity, a 
force of one hundred and thirty men was dispatched under his 
command to destroy them. Passing up the sound in three 
yachts, he landed at Greenwich, where he was compelled to 
remain over night, in consequence of a severe snow storm. 
Piloted by an Indian, he marched in the morning to the north- 
west " up over stony hills over which some must creep," and 
arrived in the evening about three miles from the village. Halt- 
ing until ten o'clock, the march was resumed, and the village 
reached about midnight. Says the narrator : " The order was 
given as to the mode to be observed in attacking the Indians ; 
they then marched forward towards the houses, being three 
rows set up street fashion, each eighty paces long, in a low 
recess of the mountain, affording complete shelter from the 
north-west wind. The moon was then at the full, and threw 
a strong light against the mountain so that many winter days 
were not brighter than it then was. On arriving there the In- 
dians were wide awake, and on their guard ; so that ours deter- 
mined to charge and surround the houses sword in hand. They 
demeaned themselves as soldiers and deployed in small bands, 

1 " The first of these savages having the fort, and the soldiers bringing him to 
.received a frightful wound, desired them the beaver's path (he dancing the kinte- 
to permit him to dance what is called kaye all the time), threw him down, cut 
the kinte-kaye, a religious use observed off his partes genitales, thrust them into 
among them before death ; he received, his mouth while still alive, and at last, 
however, so many wounds, that he placing him on a millstone, cut off his 
dropped down dead. The soldiers then cut head. * * There stood at the 
strips from the other's body, beginning at same time some twenty-four or twenty- 
the calves, up the back, over the shoul- five female savages, who had been taken 
ders and down to the knees. While this prisoners, and when they saw this bloody 
was going forward Director Kieft and spectacle, they held up their arms, struck 
his councillor, Jan De la Montagne, a their mouths, and in their language ex- 
Frenchman, stood laughing heartily at claimed : ' For shame ! For shame ! 
the fun, and rubbing his right arm, so such unheard of cruelty was never known 
much delight he took in such scenes, among us.' " — Documentary History , iv, 
He then ordered him to be taken out of 105. 



116 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



so that we got in a short time twelve dead and one wounded. 
They were so hard pressed that it was impossible for one to 
escape. In a brief space of time there were counted one hun- 
dred and eighty dead outside the houses. Presently none durst 
come forth, keeping within the houses, discharging arrows 
through the holes. The general (Montagne) remarked that 
nothing else was to be done, and resolved, with Sergeant Major 
Underhill, to set the huts on fire, whereupon the Indians tried 
every means to escape, not succeeding in which they returned 
back to the flames, preferring to perish by the fire than to die by 




Massacre of the Weckquaesgeeks. 



our hands. What was most wonderful is, that among this vast 
collection of men, women and children, not one was heard to 
cry or to scream. According to the report of the Indians them- 
selves the number then destroyed exceeded five hundred ; some 
say full seven hundred, among whom there were also twenty- 
five Wappingers, our God having collected together there the 
greater part of our enemies to celebrate one of their festivals, 1 
from which escaped no more than eight men in all, of whom 
even those were severely wounded." The work of sword and 

J The Indians had doubtless assembled following that at the end of February. — 
for their annual festival of the first moon Ante y p. 27. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



117 



of fire having been completed in a manner so satisfactory to the 
humane and Christian Underhill and the equally pious Mon- 
tagne, the expedition returned to Stamford bearing with them 
fifteen wounded. Two days after, the force reached Fort 
Amsterdam, where joy bells rang their welcome. 1 

The Indians now solicited peace, and a treaty was brought 
about through the intervention of Underhill. Mamaranack, 
chief of the Sint-Sings, Mongockonone of the Weckquaesgeeks, 
Pappenoharrow from the Nochpeems, and the Wappingers from 
Stamford, presented themselves at Fort Amsterdam, in the early 
part of April, 1644, and having pledged themselves that they 
would not henceforth commit any injury whatever on the in- 
habitants of New Netherland, their cattle and houses, nor show 
themselves, except in a canoe, before Fort Amsterdam, should 
the Dutch be at war with any other chieftaincies ; and having 
further promised to deliver up Pacham, the chief of the Tanki- 
tekes, peace was concluded, the Dutch promising, on their part, 
not to molest the Indians in any way. 

The Long Island chieftaincies were not included in this ar- 
rangement, and the Dutch determined to employ some of the 
friendly Indians there against those who were hostile. White- 
neymen, sachem of the Matinecocks, with forty-seven of his 
warriors, was secured and dispatched with a commission to do 
all in his power " to beat and destroy the hostile tribes." The 
sachem's diplomacy, however, was better than his commission, 
and he returned to Fort Amsterdam in a few days empowered 
by the Long Island chiefs to negotiate a treaty of peace, which 
was at once concluded and pledges exchanged of eternal amity. 
Gonwarrowe, a chief of the Matinecocks, who was present, 
became surety for the Hackinsacks and Tappans, for whom he 
solicited peace, 2 which was granted, on the condition that neither 
canton should harm the Dutch, and that they should not afford 
shelter to hostile Indians. 

Director Kieft then visited Fort Orange and solicited the 
negotiation and mediation of the Mohawks and Mahicans to secure 

1 " A thanksgiving was proclaimed on to be patched up last spring, by a foreigner 

their arrival." — New York Documentary with one or two tribes of savages to the 

History, iv, 17. north. — Col. Hist. 1, 210 ; 0 'Callaghari 's 

a A semblance of peace was attempted Neiv Netherlands 1, 302. 



118 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



peace with the remaining insurgents, and on their advice the 
latter agreed to conclude a treaty of which the record is in these 
words : 

" Aug. 30, 1645. This day, being the 30th August, appeared 
at Fort Amsterdam before the director and council in the 
presence of the whole commonalty, the sachems in their own 
behalf, and for sachems in their own neighborhood, viz : Ora- 
tany, chief of Ackkinkeshacky, Sesekennick and Willem, chiefs of 
Tappaans and Reckgawawank, Pokam and Pennekeck, who 
were here yesterday, and did give their power of attorney to the 
former, and took upon them the responsibility for those of 
Ouany and its vicinity, viz: those of Majauwetumemin, those of 
Marechhourick, Nyeck and their neighbors, and Aepjen, who 
personally appeared, speaking in behalf of the Wappinex, 
W iquaeshex, Sint-Sings and Kitchtawanghs. 

w 1. They conclude with us a solid and durable peace, 
which they promise to keep sincerely, as we oblige ourselves 
to do in the same manner. 

" 2. And if (which God in his mercy avert), there should 
arise any difficulty between us and them, war shall not be re- 
newed, but they shall complain to our governor, and we to 
their sachems ; and if any person should be murdered or killed, 
justice shall be directly administered on the murderer, and 
henceforth we shall live together in amity and peace. 

"3. They may not come on the island Manhattan with their 
arms in the neighborhood of Christian dwellings ; neither will 
we approach their villages with our guns, except we are con- 
ducted thither by a savage to give them warning. 

" 4. And whereas there is yet among them an English girl, 1 
whom they promise to conduct to the English at Stamfort, 
which they yet engage to do ; and if she is not conducted there, 
she shall be guided here in safety, while we promise to pay 
them the ransom which has been promised by the English. 

" All which we promise to keep religiously throughout all 
New Netherlands. Done in Fort Amsterdam, in the open air, 
by the director and council in New Netherlands, and the whole 
commonalty, called together for this purpose ; in the presence 

1 Supposed to have been the daughter of Ann Hutchinson. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



119 



of the Maquas embassadors, who were solicited to assist in this 
negotiation, as arbitrators, and Cornelius Anthonisson, their in- 
terpreter and arbitrator with them in this solemn affair. Done 
as above." 

The original was signed with the mark of Sisindogo, the mark 
of Claes Norman, the mark of Oratany, the mark of Auronge, 
the mark of Sesechemis, the mark of Willem of Tappan, the 
mark of Aepjen, sachem of the Mahicans, and William Kieft, 
La Montagne, and other Dutch officials and witnesses. 1 

Thus terminated a war which had been waged for over five years. 
Both parties had suffered severely. Sixteen hundred Indians, it 
is said, perished, while the Dutch pointed to " piles of ashes from 
the burnt houses, barns, barracks and other buildings, and the 
bones of the cattle," and exclaimed: " Our fields lie fallow and 
waste ; our dwellings and other buildings are burnt ; not a 
handful can be planted or sown this fall on all the abandoned 
places. All this through a foolish hankering after war ; for it 
is known to all right thinking men here, that these Indians 
have lived as lambs among us until a few years ago, injuring no 
one, and affording every assistance to our nation." 2 

1 Collections of the Neiv York Historical 2 Colonial History, i, 210. 
Society, 2d series, 1, 275. Col. Hist. 1, 210. 




sachem of the Mahicans. 



120 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Esopus Wars. — From the Peace of 1645 T0 THE 
Peace of 1664. 

CARCELY had the peace of 1645 been concluded 
before the Dutch resumed their former intercourse 
with the Indians, as well as their former modes of 
promoting trade. The town of New Amsterdam 
was largely given up to the sale of brandy, tobacco and beer, 
and Indians were daily seen " running about drunk," through 
the streets. Every advantage was taken by the Dutch. The 
Indians were employed as servants, and defrauded of their wages j 
they were induced to drink, and while intoxicated were robbed 
of their furs or of the goods which they had purchased ; they 
had standing complaint in regard to the sale of arms at Beaver- 
wyck, and found cause of grievance in the value which the 
Dutch attached to the lands which they had sold, which led 
them to believe that they had not been paid a sufficient price 
for them. The Minsis were especially aggrieved, and when 
the Swedes made their appearance on the South river and offered 
them arms and ammunition in exchange for their furs, their con- 
tempt for the Dutch was openly expressed. 

The Dutch, on the other hand, protested their innocence of 
the causes of complaint charged against them, and made up 
quite a formidable bill of grievances in their own justification. 
The Indians "without any cause," so far as they knew, had 
" not only slain and killed many animals, such as cows, horses 
and hogs," to the immigrants belonging, but had " cruelly mur- 
dered ten persons," one in the second year after the peace had 
been concluded, one in the year 165 1, four in the year 1652, 
three in the year 1653, and one in the year 1654. The mur- 
derers had been demanded under the treaty of 1645, but the 
Indians had refused to give them up, and the government, " for 
the sake of peace and out of consideration for the good and ad- 




OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



121 



vantage of the country and its people," had not attempted to 
enforce redress. 1 Granting that the offenses recited had been 
committed, they only prove that they were in retaliation for 
outrages inflicted on the Indians, for the testimony in all simi- 
lar cases is that the latter were not wanton murderers. 2 The 
wrongs which they suffered found no fitting record at the 
hands of the Dutch, but their acts of retaliation were detailed 
with horror, and were exceeded, when opportunity offered, in 
the cold-blooded vengeance which was inflicted upon them. 

Hostilities were not long delayed. A squaw, detected in 
stealing peaches from the garden of Hendrick Van Dyck, at 
New Amsterdam, had been killed by him, and her family deter- 
mined to avenge her death. Availing themselves of the or- 
ganization of a war party of Wappingers, then about to make 
descent upon some neighboring tribe, they prevailed upon them 
to stop at New Amsterdam, and aid them in enforcing the 
" blood atonement," which their laws demanded. On the 
morning of the fifteenth of September, 1655, " sixty-four canoes 
full of Indians," were beached on the shore, and, " before 
scarcely any one had yet risen," their occupants, 14 five hundred 
men, all armed," 3 scattered themselves throughout the town, 
and, "under the pretense of looking for northern Indians," 
entered dwellings by force and " searched the premises" with 
more than the zeal of modern officers in quest of fugitives. 
They offered no personal violence, however, and their sachems 
readily attended a conference, called by the authorities, and 
promised to take their departure in the evening. But they 
failed to do so. The object for which they came was not ac- 
complished. In the evening they were joined " by two hun- 

1 Petition of October, 1655, Dutch would complain directly to him. He 

Manuscripts, vol. iv, office of secretary accepted their gifts and made them pre- 

of state, Albany, as translated by Dr. sents in return, and they departed " very 

O'Callaghan in Indian War of 1655. much satisfied." 

3 The Indians promptly confessed their 3 Brodhead says the Indians were sup- 
wrong in the first of the cases recited, posed to number nineteen hundred men, 
and sent a deputation to the director to of whom from five to eight hundred were 
solicit forgiveness and renew their cove- armed. The text of the Dutch manu- 
nant of peace. They wished to live in script, however, is " five hundred," and 
friendship, but were sorely provqked by even that number was a large comple- 
their Dutch neighbors. The director ment for sixty-four canoes. Councillor 
promised that he would surely punish La Montagne, upon whose " opinion," 
offenders against them if the Indians Brodhead evidently bases his statement, 



122 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



dred armed Indians," and with them renewed the search. 
About eight o'clock, they detected Van Dyck, and an arrow 
was almost instantly winged to his breast. One Leendertsen, 
in attempting to protect him, was " threatened with an axe." 1 
The cry of murder was raised by the Dutch, and the burgher 
guard rushed from the fort, " without any orders, some through 
the gate, others over the walls, so that they came into conflict 
with the Indians." The latter were "lying about the shore," 
evidently preparing to take their departure as they had promised. 
In the attack upon them two of the guard were killed and three 
wounded, while of their own number three were left dead. 2 
Meanwhile they had embarked in their canoes, and, " taking 
their course across the river, landed on the western side ; and 
commenced the work of retaliation for the attack which had 
been made upon them and for the loss which they had suffered. 
A house at Hoboken was soon in flames, and those at Pavonia 
speedily followed. Every family, with the exception of one, 
was destroyed ; every man killed, " together with all his cattle," 
and a large number of women and children taken into captivity. 
Staten island was next visited, and its ninety colonists and 
flourishing bouweries shared the fate of those at Pavonia. For 
three days the carnage continued, and at its close " full fifty" 
of the Dutch had been " murdered and put to death ; over one 
hundred, mostly women and children," were in captivity ; 
" twenty bouweries and a number of plantations" had been 
burned with " full twelve to fifteen hundred skepels of grain," 
and five or six hundred head of cattle either killed or driven off. 
In addition to those killed and captured, three hundred colonists 
were ruined in estate, and the aggregated damages were com- 
puted at two hundred thousand guilders or eighty thousand 
dollars. 

At the time of this occurrence, Director Stuyvesant, who 
had succeeded Kieft, was absent with his soldiers on an expedi- 
tion to South river, and a messenger was immediately sent for 
his return. Meanwhile, as the tidings of the disaster spread, the 

disagrees with all of his contemporaries, 1 Neither Van Dyck nor Leendertsen 

and was apparently determined to give appear to have been killed, 

good reason for the great fright which he 2 Opinion of Fiscal Van Tienhoven, 

suffered. 0 'Callaghan 's Indian War of 1655, 40. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



123 



inhabitants fled in terror to the fort as to a city of refuge. The 
English villages on Long Island sent word that the Indians had 
threatened to kill the Dutch who resided there, and that the 
English themselves would share the same fate if they offered 
any assistance to the Manhattans, even to the extent of sending 
them food. Lady Moody's house at Gravesend was again at- 
tacked. The settlers at Esopus abandoned their farms, lest they 
should be cut off. Even New Amsterdam was not secure ; 
bands of Indians wandered over the island, destroying all who 
came in their way. Ten Frenchmen were enrolled to guard 
the house and family of the absent director, while the Dutch 
themselves kept within the fort. 

In the midst of the terror which prevailed, Stuyvesant and his 
soldiers returned, and the confidence of the colonists was soon 
restored. Soldiers were sent to the out settlements, an embargo 
was laid on vessels about to sail, and passengers able to bear 
arms were ordered not to depart " until it should please God to 
change the aspect of affairs. " A plank curtain was thrown up, 
to prevent the Indians scaling the city walls, and no persons, on 
any account, were to go into the country without permission, 
nor unless in numbers sufficient to ensure their safety. 

The fury of the Indians, however, had spent its force and 
they retreated, after dividing their prisoners, a portion of whom 
were taken to the highlands, and the remainder retained with the 
Hackinsacks. The latter, finding them an incumbrance, sent 
Captain Pos, who had been taken at Staten island, with propo- 
sals for their ransom. Not returning as soon as was expected, 
the Indians sent another messenger with word that all the pri- 
soners should be brought to Paulus hook in two days. Pos 
returned, and in a few days brought from the chief of the Hack- 
insacks fourteen prisoners, " men, women and children," as a 
token of his good will, " in return for which he requested some 
powder and ball. Stuyvesant sent him a Wappinger and an 
Esopus Indian in exchange, and also some ammunition, of which 
he promised a further supply when other prisoners should be 
brought in. Pos, accompanied by two influential citizens, con- 
veyed this message, and soon returned with twenty-eight of the 
captives and another message that from twenty to twenty-four 



124 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



others would be restored on the receipt of a proper quantity of 
friezes, guns, wampum and ammunition, but they would not 
exchange the prisoners for Indians, ransom was the order of 
their laws. Stuyvesant then asked the ransom price " for all 
the prisoners en masse, or for each individually," and received 
the answer, " seventy-eight pounds of powder and forty staves 
of lead, for twenty-eight persons." This offer was accepted, 
and thirty-five pounds of powder and ten staves of lead addi- 
tional sent, but no more prisoners were returned, the highland 
chieftaincies having determined to retain them as hostages. No 
measures were taken to punish the Indians. The Dutch were 
clearly at fault, in the opinion of Stuyvesant, 1 and he turned a 
deaf ear to those who clamored for war, and who in return 
charged him with winking " at this infraction of the peace." 
The settlers gradually returned to their avocations^ but under 
restraints which were more conducive to personal safety, and 
comparative quiet prevailed. 

The Long Island tribes under Tackapousha, who had been 
assigned to the jurisdiction of the Dutch under the treaty with 
the English at Hartford in 1650, came forward and repudiated 
all connection with the outbreak which had occurred. Not 
only were they innocent of participation in it, but since they 
had withheld tribute from the W appingers, they had been repeat- 
edly attacked by them. Said their speaker : " Our chief has 
been twelve years at war with those who have injured you, and 
though you may consider him no bigger than your fist, he would 
yet prove himself strong enough. He has hitherto sat, his head 
drooping on his breast, yet he still hoped he should be able to 
show what he could achieve." Henceforth the western Montauk 
chieftaincies were the friends of the Dutch, and soon after 
renewed with them their treaty of alliance. 2 

lu We concur in the general opinion their purpose] and been the cause of the 

that the Indians had, on their first arrival, dreadful consequences and enormous 

no other intention than to wage war losses." — O^Callaghans Indian War of 

against the savages on the east end of 1655. 

Long Island. We have come to this 2 The following is the treaty referred to : 

conclusion from various reasons too long " Articles of agreement betwixt the 

to be detailed here; and that a culpa- governor of New Netherland, and Tacka- 

ble want of vigilance, and a too hasty pausha, March ye 12, 1656 : 

rashness on the part of a few hot-headed " 1. That all injuries formerly passed 

spirits, had diverted the Indians [from in the time of the governor's predecessors, 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



125 



But there was no general peace. The conflict was remem- 
bered, and the Indians, as well as the Dutch, stood on guard. 
The scene of combat, however, was changed. The settlers at 
Esopus, 1 who had returned after the panic of 1655, continued 
for some time unmolested ; but, as in other places, they soon 
devoted the largest portion of their time and means to the pur- 
poses of trade. The examples of the traders at New Amster- 
dam were readily copied. Familiarity, brandy and other liquors, 
were called to their aid, and with results similar to those which 
had already disgraced the Dutch character. The Indians suf- 
fered wrongfully, and in retaliation (1657) "one of the settlers 
was killed, the house and out buildings of another were burned, 
and the settlers were forced, by threats of arson and murder, to 
plow up the patches of land where the savages planted their 
maize." 2 The white population consisted, at that time, of 
between sixty and seventy persons, who were in no condition 
for defense. They wrote at once to Stuy vesant, imploring him 
to send "forty or fifty soldiers to save the Esopus." The 



shall be forgiven and forgotten, since ye 
sd year 1645. 

" 2. That Tackapausha being chosen 
ye chief sachem by all the Indian sachems 
from Mersapege, Maskahnong, Secatong, 
Meracock, Rockaway and Canorise, with 
ye rest, both sachems and natives, doth 
take ye governor of ye New Netherland 
to be his and his people's protector, and 
in consideration of that to put under ye 
sd protection, on thiere lands and terri- 
toryes upon Long Island, so far as ye 
Dutch line doth runn, according to the 
agreement made att Hartforde. 

" 3. The governor doth promise to 
make noe peace with the Indians that 
did the spoile at ye Manhattans the 15th 
September last, likewise to include the 
sachem in it. 

" 4. That Tackapausha shall make no 
peace wh ye sd Indians, without ye con- 
sent and knowledge of the governor, and 
sd sachem doth promise for himself and his 
people to give no dwelling place, enter- 
tainment nor lodging to any of ye govern- 
or's, or thiere owne enemies. 

" 5. The governor doth promise, be- 
tween this date and six months, to build 
a house or forte upon such place as they 
shall show upon the north side, and the 



house or forte to be furnished with Indian 
trade and commodities. 

" 6. The inhabitants of Hempsteede 
according to their patent, shall enjoy their 
purchase without molestation from ye 
sachem or his people, either of person or 
estate ; and the sachem will live in peace 
with all ye English and Dutch within 
this jurisdiction. And the governor doth 
promise for himself and all his people to 
live in peace with the sd sachem and all 
his people. 

" 7. That in case an Indian doe wrong 
to a Christian in his person or estate, and 
complaint be made to the sachem, hee 
shall make full satisfaction ; likewise if 
a Dutchman or Englishman shall wrong 
an Indian the governor shall make satis- 
faction according to Equity." 

1 The precise time at which settlement 
was made at Atkarkarton, now Kingston, 
is not known, although it is assumed that 
a fort or trading post was erected there as 
early as 1 6 14. The reference in the text 
is to the first known European settlers 
who removed thither, in company with 
Capt. Thomas Chambers, from Panhoosic, 
now Troy, in 1652. 

2 Documentary History , iv. 



126 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



governor responded by immediately visiting the scene of dis- 
turbance with a company of soldiers, where he arrived on the 
30th of May. The following day, being Ascension Thursday, 
the settlers assembled at the house of Jacob Jansen Stol for 
religious service. The governor met them there and explained 
to them the difficulties under which they were placed, by their 
isolated positions, and recommended that they should unite at 
once in a village, which could be easily defended from the 
attacks of the Indians. To this they objected on the ground 
of want of time to give care to their crops and to remove their 
dwellings and erect palisades ; and asked that the soldiers be 
permitted to remain until after harvest. This request Stuyve- 
sant refused ; but promised that if they would agree to palisade 
at once the ground to be selected for a village, he would remain 
with them until the work was completed. 

While these proceedings were being held, some twelve or 
fifteen Indians, accompanied by two of their chiefs, arrived at 
the house of Stol, where the director was staying, with word 
that other sachems were deterred from coming to the conference 
which he had invited through fear of the soldiers. Stuyvesant 
gave his assurance that no harm should befall them, when about 
fifty additional Indians, with a few women and children, made 
their appearance, and seated themselves beneath an aged tree 
which stood without the fence, " about a stone's throw from 
the house." Accompanied only by an interpreter and two of 
his followers, Stuyvesant went out and seated himself in the 
midst of the Indians, when one of the chiefs arose, " and made 
a long harangue," detailing the events of the war waged in 
Kieft's time (1645), and how many of their tribe the Dutch 
had then slain, adding, however, that they had obliterated all 
these things from their hearts and forgotten them. 1 

Stuyvesant replied to this address, that those things had oc- 
curred before his time, and that the recollection of them had 
been " all thrown away" by the subsequent peace. He asked 
them, however, if any injury had been done them, in person or 
property, since he had come into the country. The Indians 
remained silent. Stuyvesant then proceeded to enumerate the 

1 O'Callagbans New Netherlands n, 358. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



127 



various offenses which the Indians had committed on the Dutch. 
" Your overbearing insolence at Esopus," said he, " is known. 
I come to investigate this matter, and not to make war, pro- 
vided the murderer be surrendered and all damage repaid. The 
Dutch never solicited your sachems for leave to come here. 
Your sachems have requested us, over and over again, to make 
a settlement among you. We have not had a foot of your land 
without paying you for it, nor do we desire to have any more 
without making full compensation therefor. Why then have 
you committed this murder ? Why have you burned our houses, 
killed our cattle, and continue to threaten our people ?" 

To this harangue the sachems made no reply, but " looked on 
the ground." At length one of them arose and responded : 
" You Swannekins have sold our children the boisson.'" It is 
you who have given them brandy and made them cachens, 
intoxicated and mad, and caused them to commit all this mis- 
chief. The sachems cannot then control the young Indians nor 
prevent them fighting. This murder has not been committed 
by any of our tribe, but by a Minnhink, who now skulks among 
the Haverstraws. It was he who fired the two houses and then 
fled. For ourselves we can truly say, we did not commit the 
act. We know no malice, neither are we inclined to fight, but 
we cannot control our young men." 

Stuyvesant immediately arose, and hurled defiance at the 
young braves. "If any of your young people desire to fight, let 
them now step forth. I will place man against man. Nay. I 
will place twenty against thirty or forty of your hot heads. 
Now, then, is your time. But it is not manly to threaten far- 
mers, and women and children who are not warriors. If this 
be not stopped, I shall be compelled to retaliate on old and 
young, on women and children. This I can now do by killing 
you all, taking your wives and little ones captive and destroying 
your maize lands ; but I will not do it. I expect you will repair 
all damages, seize the murderer if he come among you, and do 
no further mischief." " The Dutch," he continued, "are now 
going to live together in one spot. It is desirable that you 
should sell us the whole of the Esopus land, as you have often 
proposed, and remove farther into the interior ; for it is not 



128 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



good for you to reside so near the Swannekins, whose cattle 
might eat your maize and thus cause fresh disturbances." 

The sachems promised to take the matter into consideration, 
and departed with their followers. While they were absent the 
settlers agreed that it would be for the best to adopt the counsel 
of the director, and left the selection of the site of the village 
to him. He " accordingly chose a spot at the bend of the kill, 
where a water front might be had on three sides ; and a part 
of the plain, about two hundred and ten yards in circumfer- 
ence, was staked out." 1 The erection of a stockade was 
immediately commenced, the Dutch, in this particular, adopt- 
ing the mode of the Indians and drawing from them lessons in 
defensive warfare. 

On the ist of June, the sachems returned and solicited peace, 
expressing sorrow for what had passed. They felt deeply the 
shame that Stuy vesant had challenged their young men, and they 
had not dared to accept the wager, and hoped the fact would 
not be spread abroad. Presents were distributed to them in 
exchange for the wampum with which they had accompanied 
their proposals for peace ; but they were told a second time that 
they must surrender the murderer, and make good the damages 
they had committed. To these requirements they demurred ; 
and it was finally agreed that they should make compensation 
for damages, and sell the land for the projected village. They 
then retired, but returned again on the 4th with a final reply, 
which was that they would give the director the land he asked, 
" to grease his feet with, as he had taken so long a journey to 
visit them." They then renewed the assurance that they had 
thrown away all malice, and that hereafter none among them 
would injure a Dutchman. The director responded with like 
assurances ; and the Indians departed. The work at the village 
now went forward rapidly. After three weeks' labor, the lines 
of palisades were completed ; all the buildings removed ; a 
guard-house, sixteen feet by twenty-three, built in the north-east 
corner a bridge thrown over the kill, and barracks erected for 

1 Brodhead, i, 649; 0" Callaghan, n, ton, at a bend in the Esopus creek, near 

361. The village located by Stuyvesant the residence now, or late, of Benjamin 

was about three miles north-west from Smith. The Indians were probably resi- 

the centre of the present village of Kings- dents of the castle of Wiltmeet. 



Or HUDSON'S RIPER. 



129 



the soldiers, of whom Stuyvesant detailed twenty-four to guard 
the infant settlement, and then returned to Fort Amsterdam. 

Stuyvesant visited Esopus again in the fall of 1658, in order 
to obtain from the Indians a transfer of the remainder of their 
lands. Calling the chiefs together, he thus addressed them : 
" A year and a half ago you killed two horses belonging to 
Madame de Hulter, and attacked Jacob Adriaensen in his own 
house with an axe, knocked out his eye, mortally wounded his 
infant child, and not satisfied with this, burnt his house last 
spring. You, moreover, robbed him of his property, and killed 
a Dutchman in one of his sloops. You compelled our farmers 
to plow your land ; threatened, at the same time, to fire their 
houses, and repeatedly extorted money from the settlers, who 
have already paid you for their farms. You have added threats 
and insults, and finally forced the colonists, at much expense, 
to break up their establishments and concentrate their dwellings. 
Various other injuries you have committed since that time, not- 
withstanding your promises. For all this we demand compen- 
sation ; to enforce which, efficient measures will be taken, unless 
the terms we now propose be acceded to." 

The demand was a bold attempt at extortion ; the terms of 
peace not less so. The Indians were required to make a free 
surrender of all the Esopus lands so far as they had been ex- 
plored by the Dutch, as indemnity for the expenses which the 
settlers had incurred in removing their dwellings and fortifying 
their village ; the relinquishment of ail claims held by the In- 
dians against the settlers for labor or furs, and the payment to 
the latter of several hundred fathoms of wampum for damages. 
The Indians regarded the terms as hard, and stated that they 
had already been deprived of many of their maize fields without 
compensation. Such a demand was unexpected, and as many 
of their sachems were absent, they asked time for consultation. 
Stuyvesant generously agreed to allow them one night to con- 
sider what course they would pursue. 

The next day (Oct. 16), the council again assembled, and 
the sachems expressed a willingness to make reasonable com- 
pensation for injuries. They would relinquish part of their 
claims against the settlers, and give some lands to those who had 



130 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



been injured ; but they were poor and had no wampum. Then 
throwing down a beaver skin, the principal sachem reminded 
the director that he could well afford to be generous from the 
prospect of largely increased trade with the Senecas. Offering 
a wampum belt, he concluded : " A horse belonging to Jacob 
Jansen Stol broke into our corn-fields and destroyed two of 
our plantations. One of our boys shot it, for which we gave 
Stol seventy guilders in wampum. But this belt we now pre- 
sent, so that the soldiers may let us go in peace, and not beat 
us when we visit this place." 

Stuyvesant's proposition in relation to land was left untouched 
by the sachem, and the director asked : " What do you intend 
to propose about the land ? " The sachem replied, that " it 
belonged to the chiefs who were not here to-day, and we can- 
not, therefore, come to any conclusion on it." He promised, 
however, that they would return the next day and give their 
answer. The morrow came, but the chiefs did not return. 
Stuyvesant dispatched messengers to their wigwams to inquire 
their intentions, who returned with the answer that " the chiefs 
had made fools of them." Stuyvesant had overreached him- 
self by his extravagant demand, and, chagrined and disappointed, 
departed for Fort Amsterdam, leaving Ensign Dirck Smith with 
fifty soldiers under instructions to guard the village properly, 
and not allow any Indians within the palisades ; to act purely 
on the defensive, and to detail, from day to day, a proper guard 
to protect the husbandmen. A ronduit, or small fort, was also 
projected at the mouth of the Walkill, and the work of its con- 
struction commenced. Several chiefs came in, shortly after 
Stuyvesant's departure, and made a present to Stol as further 
indemnity for the injuries he had sustained. The offering was 
accompanied by a renewal of their request for the removal of 
the soldiers, and an exchange of presents. The former was 
declined, and in response to the latter the settlers had " nothing 
to grease the Indian's breasts. So the meeting was a dry one." 

Notwithstanding the threatening aspect of Indian affairs, the 
settlement continued prosperous, and its occupants, increased 
in numbers and enjoying the protection of an armed force, 
became more and more disregardful of the rights of the red men. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



131 



During the summer of 1659, mutual distrust and suspicion pre- 
vailed. The settlers were disturbed by reports that the Indians 
intended a general massacre when the work of harvest should 
begin ; while the Indians regarded the presence of the soldiers 
as a menace, doubted the director's desire for peace, and feared 
that it was his intention to attack and destroy them, as he had 
not yet sent the presents he had promised them. A conference 
was held with the chiefs Aug. 17, but they denied that they 
had any hostile intentions. " We patiently submit," said they, 
" to the blows which have been inflicted on us ; yet the Dutch 
still plunder our corn." Laying down seventeen small sticks, 
the sachem added : " so many times have the Swannekins struck 
and assaulted us in divers places. We are willing to live in 
peace, but we expect your chief sachem will make us some pre- 
sents. Otherwise he cannot be sincere." The conference was 
broken up without removing the feeling which existed between 
the parties ; and fresh rumors disturbed the settlers that the 
Indians were preparing bows and arrows and concentrating 
their strength for an attack. Familiar as the Dutch were with 
the customs of the Indians and the periods of their annual return 
from their hunting expeditions, and their almost constant pre- 
paration of the implements of the chase, they nevertheless now 
saw in them nothing but impending destruction. 

Nor were the general relations existing between the Indians 
and the Dutch more favorable. Two soldiers, who had de- 
serted from Fort Orange, were murdered by the Mahicans, and 
some of the Raritans had destroyed a family of four persons, 
at Mespath kil, in order to obtain possession of a small roll of 
wampum which, in an unguarded moment, had been exhibited 
to them, and excited their cupidity. The Mohawks, suffering 
under the blows of the French, had complaint against the Dutch, 
and sent a delegation to Fort Orange, where, on the sixth of 
September, 1659, the second official conference was held with 
them. The Mohawk speaker charged that the Dutch called 
his people brothers, and asserted that they were bound to them 
by a chain, but that this continued only so long as they had 
beavers, after which they were no longer thought of. They 
had favors to ask, however, and were not disposed to quarrel. 



132 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



They were engaged in war with the French, and, finding them- 
selves crippled by the liquor which the Dutch sold to their war- 
riors, asked that the sale be stopped, the liquor kegs plugged 
up and the dealers punished. The gunsmiths refused to repair 
their arms when they had no wampum ; this was not generous, 
nor was it generous to deny to them powder and lead. The 
French treated their Indians more liberally, and their example 
should be considered. Their principal request, however, was 
for thirty men with horses, to cut and draw timber for the forts 
which they were building. 

The commandant at Fort Orange could give no reply, but 
would submit the requests which had been made to the director, 
whose arrival was daily expected. But Stuyvesant did not ar- 
rive, and, after waiting several days, the authorities at Fort 
Orange, now thoroughly alarmed, resolved to send embassadors 
to the Mohawks to reply to their requests. At Caughnawaga, 
on the twenty-fourth, was held the first formal council with the 
Iroquois in their own country. The professions of friendship 
on the part of the Dutch were warm, and no doubt sincere, in 
view of their relations with other tribes. They would remain 
the brothers of the Mohawks for all time, and would neither 
fight against them nor leave them in distress when they could 
help them ; but they could not force their smiths to repair 
their " brothers' fire arms without pay, for they must earn food 
for their wives and little ones." The sale of brandy could not 
be stopped so long as the Indians would buy it. The director 
was angry that such sale was made, and had forbidden it ; let 
the chiefs also forbid their people. " Will ye," they asked, " that 
we take from your people their brandy and their kegs ? Say so 
before all those here present." Aid to build the Mohawk forts 
could not be given ; the Dutch were all sick, and the hills were 
so steep their horses could not draw the timber. But to aid 
them in their work they gave them fifteen new axes ; and to 
assist them in their wars, seventy pounds of powder and a hun- 
dred weight of lead were added to their stores. 1 

1 It was at this conference that the has already been made to this treaty. It 
Dutch speaker asserted that it was " now will also be observed that the Minsis were 
sixteen years" since an alliance had been not subjugated at that time, but were in con- 
formed with the Mohaivks. Reference dition to ask the alliance of the Mohawks. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



133 



The embassadors made no efforts to control the Mohawks in 
their wars, nor cared with whom they fought so long as the 
Dutch escaped ; while the Mohawks cared as little for their 
white neighbors, their sole object being to obtain the munitions 
of war to continue their conflict with the French and their 
Indians. The request of the embassadors for the release of the 
French prisoners, the Mohawks would not grant ; but they would 
refer the matter to their castles. They had little faith in the 
French, however, for they made treaties and did not observe 
them ; and when hunting parties of the Mohawks were abroad, 
they were attacked by the French Indians, among whom a 
number of Frenchmen were always skulking to knock them on 
the head. In their request that the Mohawks would not aid 
the Esopus clans in an attack upon the Dutch, the embassadors 
were more successful, the chiefs promising that they would re- 
fuse their belts and have nothing to do with them. 1 

In the meantime hostilities had broken out in the Esopus 
country. Chambers 2 had employed a number of Indians to husk 
corn, and, on the night of the termination of their labor, they 
had asked for and obtained some brandy. A carouse followed, 
in the course of which another bottle of brandy was procured. 
When the debauch was at its height, one of them discharged 
his gun, loaded only with powder, which had the effect to alarm 
the village. One of them, more wise than his associates, de- 
plored the act of his companion, and proposed that they should 

1 CP Callaghan^ h, 389, etc. courts and to appoint a steward to try 

2 Thomas Chambers was of English causes arising between the vassals. Not 
birth. He settled at Panhoosic, now satisfied with these honors, he determined 
Troy, in the jurisdiction of Rensselaers- to perpetuate his name in another form, 
wyck, in 1651, and from thence re- and accordingly passed his estate to his 
moved to the Esopus country in 1652, heirs by the most intricate entail. The 
where he took part in the early Indian manor and title was to be held only by 
wars, became a captain in the Dutch heirs bearing the name of Chambers. To 
service, and was elected delegate to the this end, his first wife having died with- 
provincial assembly in 1 664'. His re- out issue, he married a widow Van Gaas- 
sidence was near the confluence of the beck and adopted her children. He died 
Walkill with the Hudson, and was built in 1698, and was buried in his vault on 
for the double purpose of a house and a the site of the residence now or late of 
fort, being square and loop-holed for Jansen Hasbrouck, at Rondout. His re- 
musketry. By commercial and other mains, with those of the Van Gaasbeck 
speculations, he acquired a considerable family, were removed in 1854. The 
tract of land, which was erected, by Gov. name of the manor and its owner only 
Lovelace, in 1672, into the manor of live in history. 

Foxhall, with power to hold certain 



134 



THE 1NDIJN TRIBES 



at once leave the place, urging that " he felt a sensation in his 
body that they would all be killed." His companions, however, 
laughed at his alarm. They had never harmed the Dutch — 
" Why should they kill us ?" But the speaker still cherished 
his fears, and replied : " My heart feels heavy within me and 
again he entreated his companions to depart, but they refused, 
and, in conscious security, lay down upon their blankets to sleep. 

Meanwhile Ensign Smith had yielded to the request of the 
villagers by dispatching Sergeant Stol to reconnoitre and report the 
cause of the disturbance. Stol, on his return, stated the facts, 
when Smith gave orders that the Indians should not be molested. 
Notwithstanding this order, Stol went among the villagers and 
invited them to unite in a sortie against the Indian encamp- 
ment. Enlisting some ten or eleven persons 1 in the enterprise, 
he left the village and stealthily approached the sleeping Indians, 
who were aroused from their slumbers by a volley fired among 
them. Jumping up to escape, one was knocked on the head with 
an axe, a second was taken prisoner, a third fled, and a fourth, 
too deeply intoxicated to awake, " was hewn on the head with 
a cutlass," which roused him to consciousness and he made off. 
Stol and his valorous associates then returned to the village 
and recounted their deeds of noble daring, justifying their pro- 
ceedings by the assertion that the Indians first attacked them, 
an assertion subsequently proved to be without foundation. 

Ensign Smith, finding his orders disobeyed, and hostilities 
actuaUy commenced by a people whose movements he could 
not control, determined to leave the settlers to their fate by 
returning with his command to Fort Amsterdam. Learning 
his intention, the settlers frustrated his design by chartering, on 
their own account, all the sailing vessels that lay at the shore in 
which he and his men intended to embark. The only alterna- 
tive that remained to him was to send an express to the director, 
detailing the state of affairs and requesting his presence. With 
this purpose in view he sent an armed party, eighteen or nine- 

1 His associates were Jacob Jansen Van ghan, n, 396. 

Stoutenberg, Thomas Higgins, Gysbert 3 A full investigation into this affair by 

Phillipsen Van Velthuysen, Evert Pels, the proper authorities attached the blame 

Jan Arentsen,BarentHarmaensen, Martin entirely upon the men engaged in the 

Hoffman, Gilles de Wecker, Abel Dirck- foray, 
sen, and James the mason. — O'Cal/a- 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



135 



teen in number, to the shore to forward dispatches. In the 
meantime, the Indians had gathered in considerable numbers, 
determined to avenge the attack which had been made upon 
their kindred. Observing the party which had been sent out 
by Smith, an ambuscade was formed, into which, on their re- 
turn, the company fell and were immediately surrounded by the 
Indians, to whom thirteen of the party, including the officer in 
command and six soldiers, surrendered without any resistance, 
and were borne off into captivity. 

Open war was now declared. The Indians, justly incensed 
against their Dutch neighbors, burned all the houses, barns, and 
harvests within their reach, and killed all the horses and cattle 
that fell in their way. Four or five hundred Indians invested 
the village, and, after vainly attempting to set it on fire, avenged 
themselves by burning at the stake eight or ten of the prisoners 
in their hands, among whom was Stoutenberg who had taken 
part in the attack on the sleeping Indians. It was a horrid cere- 
mony. The victims were fastened naked to stakes, placed at 
some distance from each other encircling a large fire ; their 
heads ornamented \ their bodies painted. The dance of death 
was then held, and the work of torture commenced. The nails 
of the victims were pulled out, their fingers bitten off or 
crushed between stones, their skin scorched with fire-brands 
or torches, pieces of flesh cut from their bodies, and every 
kind of slow torture that savage ingenuity could suggest, in- 
flicted ; and, as one by one they were released by death, their 
bodies were cast into the blazing fire and consumed. Terror 
folded her wings in the hearts of the people who beheld the 
spectacle which they could not prevent ; fathers gathered upon 
the ramparts, and mothers pressed their children to their arms, 
not knowing how soon the frail palisades might yield, and them- 
se Ives be exposed to the pitiless mercy of the frenzied children 
of the forest. 

For three weeks the village was held in siege, the little stock- 
ade fort on the brow of the hill resisting the skill of Indian war- 
fare. Relief at length came. The express to Stuyvesant reached 
Fort Amsterdam on the 23d of September ; but everything there 
was in the greatest consternation. The settlements on Long 



136 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



island were being ravaged, and another general Indian war was 
feared. Considerable time was lost in enlisting a company to 
proceed to the assistance of the Esopus settlers, and it was not 
until the ioth of October, that Stuyvesant set sail. He arrived 
at Esopus on the nth, with a force of nearly two hundred men. 
Indian runners had preceded him and apprised their friends of 
his approach, and, a few hours previous to his arrival, the siege 
was raised and the beleaguering forces melted into the forests. 
Thither they could not be pursued, heavy rains having swollen 
the streams and made the trails impassible, and, having no em- 
ployment for his force, Stuyvesant directed their return to Fort 
Amsterdam. 

The authorities at Fort Orange now interested themselves 
in the matter, and obtained the cooperation of some Mohawk 
and Mahican chiefs, who visited the settlement, and succeeded 
in securing an armistice and the surrender of two prisoners held 
by the Indians. On the 28th of November, Stuyvesant came 
up, with the hope of making a permanent treaty, but the sa- 
chems refused to meet him. A conference was finally held on 
the 1 8th of December, and the Indians persuaded to bring in 
some supplies in exchange for powder ; but they refused to make 
peace, denounced the truce which had been made as without 
binding authority, and retained their young prisoners, having 
killed all the others. 

In the spring of 1660, peace having been concluded with the 
Wappingers, Stuyvesant determined upon active hostilities 
against the Esopus cantons ; but the latter, shorn to a large 
extent of their allies, were not disposed to cdntinue the contest, 
and accordingly secured the intercession of Goethals, the chief 
sachem of the Wappingers, that they might be included in the 
treaty which had been made with that tribe. Stuyvesant 
doubted their sincerity, and Goethals replied : " The Indians 
say the same of the Dutch." He assured Stuyvesant that 
Kaelcop, Pemmyraweck, and other Esopus sachems were anx- 
ious for peace, and that it was only the kalebackers 1 who were 
not inclined to treat, but that the chiefs would make them 

1 Indians who possessed guns were most idle and vicious of the Indian peo- 
called kalebackers, and were generally the pie. — De Laet. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



137 



come in. " What security can there be for peace, if the kale- 
backers desire war ?" asked the director, but Goethals. could not 
reply. Stuyvesant then told him that the Esopus chiefs must 
visit him at Fort Amsterdam, if they desired peace. " They 
are too much frightened and dare not come," was the reply. 
Believing this to be true, Stuyvesant consented to visit Esopus 
and. hold a conference with the Indians. 

While these negotiations were in progress, Ensign Smith was 
engaged in active service against the offending Indians. On 
the 17th of March he advanced, with forty men, nine miles 
into the interior, and attacked the Indian fort Wiltmeet, which 
was defended by some sixty Indians who fled at the first fire, 
leaving four of their number dead and twelve others prisoners. 
A large quantity of maize, peas, and bearskins, fell into the 
hands of the Dutch, and the fort was destroyed. 

Stuyvesant arrived at Esopus on the 18th, but soon saw that 
all hope of negotiating a peace was at an end. He therefore 
sent the prisoners and plunder to Fort Amsterdam, and directed 
a vigorous prosecution of the war by a formal declaration (March 
25th) against the Esopus Indians 14 and all their adherents." 
Smith now followed up the advantage he had gained by posting 
(April 4th) forty-three men in ambuscade, " over the creek 
among the rocks," but the Indians discovered the snare, and a 
general fight ensued in which three Indians were killed, two 
severely wounded, and one taken prisoner. This disaster pro- 
duced a material change in the deportment of the Indians, who 
now most earnestly entreated for peace, and again obtained the 
intercession of neighboring chiefs in their behalf. On the 24th 
of May, three Mohican chiefs visited Fort Amsterdam, and de- 
clared that the Esopus Indians were willing to leave that country 
and transfer their land to the Dutch, in indemnity for the mur- 
der of the settlers, on condition that their friends in captivity 
should be surrendered and peace concluded. Security was de- 
manded that the kalebackers also united in the request. Laying 
down four belts of wampum, " these," said Aepjin, the Mahican 
chief sachem, " are a guaranty that the kalebackers desire peace, 
and that we are authorized to treat in their behalf." Stuyvesant 
accepted the belts, but told the chiefs that peace would be con- 



138 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



eluded only when the Esopus chiefs would present themselves 
at Fort Amsterdam for that purpose. The director was then 
requested to liberate the captive Indians ; but he declined, and 
in reply to the question : " What are your intentions as regards 
these men ? " answered, " What have been done with the Christ- 
ian prisoners ?" Aepjin then requested that if the war was con- 
tinued it might be confined to the Esopus country, and the director 
assured him that so long as his people observed peace, the Dutch 
would treat them as friends. The conference was concluded 
by the presentation of a blanket, a piece of frieze, an axe, a 
knife, a pair of stockings, and two small kettles, to each of the 
chiefs, who departed content. The next day, Stuy vesant issued 
an order banishing the Esopus prisoners to Curacoa " to be em- 
ployed there, or at Buenaire, with the negroes in the company's 
service." Two or three of the prisoners only were retained at 
Fort Amsterdam, to be punished " as it should be thought 
proper." 

Meanwhile Ensign Smith pushed hostilities with vigor. On 
the 30th of May, guided by one of his prisoners, a force under 
his command discovered, " at the second fall of Kit Davit's 
kil," 1 about twelve miles west from the Hudson, a few Indians 
planting corn on the opposite bank. The stream being swollen, 
it was found impossible to cross, so he returned to the village, 
where he learned that the Indians had concentrated their force 
it an almost inaccessible spot about twenty-seven miles " up the 
river, beyond the above-mentioned fall, where it was pretty easy 
to ford " the kil. Thither Smith directed his force, but the 
Indians received notice of his approach by the barking of their 
dogs, and fled, leaving behind them Preummaker, " the oldest 
and best of their chiefs." 2 The aged sachem met his foes 
with the haughty demand, " What do ye here, ye dogs ? " aiming 
an arrow at them as he spoke. He was easily disarmed, and a 
consultation held as to how he should be disposed of. u As it 

Pager's kil, now called the Esopus 2 0 'Callaghan, n, 411. " Preum- 

creek. " The second fall " was the small maker's land," lying upon Esopus kil, 

stream entering the Esopus creek from within the limits of Hurley, was laid out 

the west, south of the old village. "Kit for Venike Rosen, April 15, 1685. — 

Davit's farm was about nine miles from Land Paper s, 11, 169. 
Hudson's river." — O^Cal/ag/ian, 11, 44. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



139 



was considerable distance to carry him," writes the ensign, " we 
struck him down with his own axe." 

While Smith was thus carrying war into the heart of the 
Indian country, several of the sachems were seeking the media- 
tion of the neighboring chiefs to secure a permanent peace. 
Sewackenamo called his warriors together to know their wishes. 
" We will fight no more," was the brief reply. The chief 
next assembled the squaws, and inquired " what seemed to them 
best ? " These answered, " That we plant our fields in peace 
and live in quiet." He then assembled the young men, who 
urged him to make peace with the Dutch, and declared that 
" they would not kill either hog or fowl any more." The 
sachem then proceeded to Gamoenapa to secure the assistance 
of the sachems of the Hackinsacks and Tappans in procuring a 
cessation of hostilities. While there a runner brought to him 
the intelligence of the death of Preummaker, which so unmanned 
him that " he knew not what to do." Leaving his Hackinsack 
friends to negotiate for him, he returned to his people with a 
heavy heart. 

Oritany, of the Hackinsacks, bore the peace belts which were 
committed to him to Fort Amsterdam, and presented them to 
the director on the 2d of June. Stuyvesant assured him that 
the Dutch were disposed for friendship. " It is very strange, 
then," said the old sachem, whose notions of warfare differed 
somewhat from his hearers, " that your people were so recently 
engaged against the Indians, and have slain their aged chief." 
Stuyvesant replied, that it was customary among white men to 
exert all their strength until they had conquered a peace. Ori- 
tany then requested a suspension of hostilities while negotiations 
for peace were in progress. To this Stuyvesant consented with 
the proviso that the sachem should go at once to Esopus, ac- 
companied by a Dutch interpreter, and learn for himself the 
wishes of the Indians. Oritany accepted the proposition, and 
took his leave saying, " Now I shall see for myself if the Esopus 
people contemplate any good." His mission was entirely suc- 
cessful, and he returned to Fort Amsterdam with a request to 
the director to visit Esopus and arrange a treaty.. 



140 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



On the 7th of July, Stuyvesant arrived at Esopus, accom- 
panied by Captain Martin Kregier and Burgomaster Van 
Cortland, and sent messengers to acquaint the sachems of his 
arrival. Three days elapsed and no response came from the 
Indians. Summoning the chiefs of the Mohawks, Mahicans, 
Wappingers, Minsis and Hackinsacks, who had been invited to 
assist in the negotiations, 1 he addressed them as follows : 

" Brothers : Ye all know well that we have not caused this 
war. After the Esopus savages burned three of our houses 
and murdered one of our men, a year ago, we forgave them 
and renewed the chain of friendship with them, promising the 
one to the other, that we should not thenceforth again wage 
war though a man was killed, but that the murderer should be 
surrendered and punished. Notwithstanding all this, the Esopus 
savages took some of our people prisoners, now ten moons 
since, 2 burnt several houses ; besieged and stormed Esopus, 
though they pretended, during the siege, to be inclined to peace. 
They then consented to receive a ransom for the prisoners, 
but when the ransom was brought out to the gate, they carried 
it away by force, retained our prisoners, and murdered eight or 
nine of them afterwards in an infamous manner. Brothers : this 
it was that compelled us to take the hatchet. 

" Brothers : On the earnest entreaties of Indian friends, who 
solicited peace on behalf of the Esopus savages, and on the in- 
tercession of the Maquas, the Mahicans, those of the Highlands, 
the Minsis, the Katskills, and other tribes, we concluded a truce 
with our enemies, who seemed much rejoiced, and solicited us 
to come in person and conclude a treaty. We came with our 
friends, yet those of Esopus hang back. They come not to us, 
nor speak one word of peace. Ye see clearly that it is not our 
fault. Brothers : The Esopus savages play the fool with you, 
as well as with us. 

" Brothers : Our station will not permit us to remain here 
in uncertainty, any longer. Even ye are tired with waiting, 

1 The chiefs present on this occasion Wisachganio ; Hackinsacks, Oritany, Cars- 
were : Mohawks, Adogbegnewalquo, Re- tanghj Staten island, Warehan. — &Calla- 
quesecade, Ogknekelt 5 Mahicans, Aepjin, ghan, 11, 419. 

Aupamut; Katskill, Kefe-weig, Machack- 2 Stuyvesant carefully avoided allusion 

nemenu; Minsis, Onderis Hocque, Kas- to the immediate cause of the war, which 

kongeritschage j Wappingers, Isseschahya, had already been fixed against the D.utch. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



141 



and are as willing to depart as we. We request you to remem- 
ber these our words. Communicate them to all the other sa- 
chems our brothers, and to all the Indians our friends, and tell 
them, as we have done before, that they must not meddle with 
the Esopus savages, nor suffer them to live among them. And 
now tell the Esopus savages we will yet wait till evening. 

" Brothers : When yonder sun goes down, we depart if they be 
not here." 

The sachems received this address with alarm, and imme- 
diately sent out messengers to the Esopus chiefs, urging them to 
attend the council. Towards evening Kaelcop, Sewackenamo, 
Nasbabowan, and Pemmyraweck appeared before the gate of 
the village. Immediately on their arrival, a grand council of 
all the inhabitants of Esopus, both Christians and Indians, was 
held. The Esopus sachems and the sachems of the tribes in 
attendance, and the villagers, being seated " under the blue sky 
of heaven," Stuyvesant signified that he was ready to hear the 
Esopus chiefs. Whereupon tDnderis Hocque, of the Minsis y 
arose and thus addressed the assembly : 

" The Indians of Esopus complained to us that they were 
involved in a heavy war with the Dutch. We answered them, 
'Why did ye begin it ? It is all your own fault, we cannot, there- 
fore, help you in your necessity ; but we shall intercede in your 
behalf, and do all in our power to obtain for you peace.' We 
have now brought a present, in return for that with which they 
solicited our assistance for a peace, which we now request in 
their behalf. If they cannot obtain it now, those of Esopus 
must return home weeping." 

Stuyvesant replied : " Out of respect for the intercession of 
all our friends here present, we consent to a peace, if the Mo- 
hawks and Minsis, and all the other chiefs will be security that 
it shall be faithfully observed." 

The Mohawk chief, Adogbegnewalquo, then addressed the 
Esopus chiefs : " The whole country is now convened in be- 
half of you, who began this quarrel, to procure you peace. 1 If 

1 At a later period the Mohawks con- us," the Dutch, and this was also the ver- 

sidered the causes of the Esopus war, and diet of the Katskill Indians. — O'Calla- 

reported that "all their zaakemaakers ghan, u, 396. 
(sachems) lay the cause of the war on 



142 



THE IN DUN TRIBES 



this be once concluded, break it not again. If ye do break it 
and treat us with contempt, we shall never again intercede for 
you." 

The Minsi sachem, Onderis Hocque, then addressed the 
Esopus sachems : " Ye must not renew this quarrel ; neither 
kill horse nor cow, nor steal any property. Whatever ye want, 
ye must purchase or earn. Live with the Dutch as brothers. 
Ye cause us and the Mohawks great losses. This is not your 
land. It is our land. Therefore repeat not this, 1 but throw 
down the hatchet. Tread it so deep into the earth that it shall 
never be taken up again." He then presented them with a 
white belt, and, turning to the Dutch, he warned them not to 
renew this trouble, nor to beat the Esopus Indians in the face 
and then laugh at them. Then taking an axe from the Esopus 
sachem, he cast it on the ground, and trampled it in the earth 
saying, " Now they will never commence this quarrel anew." 

Sewackenamo, the Esopus sachem, then arose and addressed 
the assembly : " The hatchet have we permitted to be taken 
from our hands ; and to be trodden in the ground. We will 
never take it up again." 

At the conclusion of these ceremonies, Stuyvesant submitted 
the following as the conditions of the treaty : 

" i. All hostilities shall cease on both sides, and all injuries 
shall be mutually forgiven and forgotten. 

" 2. The Esopus Indians, in compensation of damages, 
promise to transfer to the director-general all the lands of Esopus, 
and to directly depart thence without being permitted to return 
thither to plant 

" 3. Further, the director-general promises to pay for the 
ransom of the captive Christians eight hundred schepels of maize, 
the half next harvest when the maize is ripe, the other half, or 
its value, in the harvest of the following year. 

" 4. The Esopus Indians promise that they will keep this 
peace inviolate, and will not kill any more of our horses, cattle 
or hogs. Should such occurrence happen, then the chiefs oblige 
themselves to pay for it, or by refusal, that one of them shall 
remain arrested until the killed animal shall be paid for or made 

1 Ante, p. 67. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



143 



good ; while the director-general, on his side, promises that the 
Dutch shall not do them any harm. 

" 5. If the Dutch kill an Indian, or an Indian kill a Dutch- 
man, war shall not be commenced on that account. Complaint 
thereof shall first be made, and he who committed the murder, 
shall be delivered to be punished as he deserves. 

" 6. The Esopus Indians shall not approach the Dutch plant- 
ations, houses, or dwellings, armed ; but may go and trade, 
unarmed as before. 

" 7. Whereas the last war owes its origin to drinking, no 
Indians shall be permitted to drink brandy or any spirituous 
liquors, in or near any Dutch plantations, houses, or concentra- 
tions, but shall do it in their country or deep in the woods, at a 
great distance. 

" 8. In this peace shall be included, not only the aforesaid 
tribes, but all others who are in friendship with the director- 
general, and among others, by the chiefs of Long island, Tapan- 
saugh, with all their Indians ; and if any act of hostility be 
committed against them, then the director-general engages him- 
self to assist them. 1 

" 9. The aforesaid chiefs (the Mohawks, Minsh and others 
already named) as mediators and advocates of the Esopus nation, 
remain securities, and engage themselves that it shall be kept 
inviolate ; and if any infraction be committed by the Esopus 
Indians, they engage themselves to assist the Dutch to subdue 
them. 

" Thus done and concluded, near the concentration of Eso- 
pus, under the blue sky of heaven, in the presence of the Hon. 
Martin Kregier, burgomaster of the city of Amsterdam in New 
Netherland ; Oloff Stevensen van Cortland, old burgomaster ; 
Arent van Curler, commissary of the colonie of Rensselaers- 
wyck, and all the inhabitants of Esopus, both Christians and 
Indians, on the 15th of July, 1660. " 

The day was far spent before the negotiations opened, and 
the shades of twilight had deepened into the night ere the cere- 
monies were concluded. The proposals submitted by Stuyve- 
sant were accepted, the sachem, Sewackenamo, declaring, in 

1 Ante, p. 68. 



144 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



the customary language of his people, that their friendship with 
the Dutch should last as long as the sun and moon gave light ; 
as long as the stars should shine in the firmament, and the 
rivers flow with water. But before this conclusion, he had 
asked the director for the return of his kindred. Stuyvesant, 
who had already disposed of the prisoners in his hands, replied 
that they must be considered " as dead." The answer deeply 
grieved the sachem, the memory of their banished brethren was 
graven on the hearts of his people. But though sufferers by the war, 
their losses were not without some compensation. Among the pri- 
soners held by them was the son of Evert Pels, one of the men who 
had led the midnight foray upon them. Just as he was being 
bound to the stake of torture, the incident which gave to 
American history the name of Pocahontas had its counterpart. 
The daughter of a chief stepped forward, in accordance with the 
customs of her people, and adopted the trembling captive as her 
own. In the depths of the forest he became her husband, and 
when the delivery of prisoners came, she was Cl unwilling to part 
with him or he with her." Adopted by the tribe, he returned 
with them to the wilderness, content to share their fortunes and 
their freedom. 

Meanwhile affairs at Fort Orange wore a threatening aspect. 
In their greedy grasping for furs, a class of what were called 
runners had sprung up, who penetrated the woods to meet 
the Indians before they reached the town and secure their pel- 
tries. Their remuneration depended on the amount of property 
they secured for their principals, and to increase their gains they 
often had recourse to violence, wresting from the Indians their 
property against their will, after inflicting on them, in addition, 
personal injuries. The evil continued, despite the efforts of the 
authorities to correct it, until the Mohawks made complaint and 
threatened to break their treaty and leave altogether, adding, that 
unless the practice was discontinued, " perhaps matters might 
terminate as at Esopus." Stuyvesant, rinding that no enforce- 
ment of law could be secured at the hands of the Beaverwyck 
traders, sent La Montagne thither with an armed force to pa- 
trol the woods and prosecute offenders. On the 22d of July, 
he went thither himself to meet a delegation of Seneca chiefs. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



145 



The proceedings of the conference 1 illustrate the nature of 
the alliance which at that time existed between the confederacy 
and the Dutch, as well as the relations of the former with the 
Esopus clans and the Mahicans. The Seneca speaker made a 
long harangue, in which he stated his complaint against the runners 
and the difficulty experienced by the Indians in negotiating the sale 
of their beavers without restraint, and demanded their ancient 
freedom of trade. They would no longer submit to being locked 
up by the Dutch, or kicked by those who wished to have their 
beavers, until "we know not where our eyes are." Several 
years ago, they had visited the Manhattans, and though they had 
offered presents, they received no answer ; " no, not even one 
pipe of tobacco ; " and they felt now as if they were about " to 
run against a stone." Still, they would make a few requests. 
They were involved in a heavy war with the French Indians and 
the Minsis, and could not obtain either powder or ball without 
beavers. " A brave warrior ought to have these for nothing." 

" You are," continued the orator, " the chiefs of the whole 
country. We all look to you. We ask a piece of cloth for a 
beaver, and that it may be understood and henceforward be a 
rule, that we shall receive thirty yards of black and sixty yards 
of white zeawan for one beaver. Ye have been sleeping hith- 
erto. With these three beavers we now open your eyes. We 
require sixty handsful of powder for one beaver. We have a 
vast deal of trouble collecting beavers through the enemy's 
country. We ask to be furnished with powder and ball. If 
our enemies conquer us, where will ye then obtain beavers ? 

" Ye have included us and the Mohawks, and the Mahicans in 
the peace of Esopus. Set now at liberty the Indians ye have 
taken prisoners there. We are sometimes obliged to pass by 
that path. It is good that brothers live together in peace. The 
French Indians meet the Mahicans near the Cohoes. This we 
regret. Brothers : We are united by a chain ; ye too ought 
to mourn. This our speech is designed merely to rouse you 
from your slumbers. We shall return next spring to receive 
your conclusions. Warn the Dutch not to beat the Indians ; 
otherwise they will say, c We know nothing of this.' " 

1 (? Callaghan, n, 421, etc. 



146 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Stuyvesant replied, that when the chiefs were, " for the first 
time at the Manhattans, some two or three years ago," the 
tobacco was forgotten, but a roll would now be given to them 
to make them remember their agreement when they returned 
to their own country ; that he had " made peace with the In- 
dians at Esopus, at the solicitation of the Mohawks, the Mahi- 
cans, and other friends," so that they might use in safety the 
rivers and the roads ; that as they had thanked him for making 
that peace, he solicited that they should " make peace 
with the Minsis and cultivate it," that the Dutch " might use 
the road to them in safety ;" that he would now give them a 
whole keg full of powder, but that it u ought not to be used 
against the Minsis," but against the distant enemies from whom 
they captured the beaver ; that he had forbidden the Dutch to 
maltreat any of the Indians, and that if the latter caught them 
doing so, they were at liberty " to beat them on the head until 
it could no longer be seen where their eyes stood." The price 
of cloth, however, he could not regulate, as it was brought from 
" beyond the great lake." With these assurances the chiefs 
departed to renew their conflict with their savage foes. 

Three years of tranquillity succeeded the peace of 1660, 
during which the settlement at Esopus continued to increase in 
population. A new village was organized on the north-eastern 
portion of the " great plot," and the ronduit, 1 at the mouth of 
the Walkill completed. The Indians, however, were far from 
being satisfied with their Dutch neighbors. The new village 
was on land which they had not given to the Dutch ; the new 
fort boded them no good, and the sting inflicted, by sending 
their brethren to exile and slavery, rankled in their breasts, and 
threats of vengeance were again heard. To quiet them Stuy- 
vesant instructed the magistrates to announce that he would 
soon visit Esopus, give them presents and renew the peace ; 
but this promise he failed to fulfill with that promptness that was 
necessary to satisfy the Indians of his sincerity. On the 5th 
of June, the promise was renewed, but the Indians still doubted, 
and replied that " if peace was to be renewed with them, the 

1 The location of this fort is supposed aboriginal name of Ponckokie. 
to have been at the place still bearing the 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



147 



honorable herr director-general should, with some unarmed 
persons, sit with them in the open field, without the gate, as it 
was their custom to meet unarmed when renewing peace or con- 
ducting other negotiations. 1 

Without waiting for a reply to this condition, the Indians 
attacked the settlement, on the 7th of June, and, with tomahawk 
and fire-brand, executed the work of death. On the morning 
of that day, the settlers went forth to their fields as usual. About 
noon, bands of Indians entered the gates of both villages, and 
scattered themselves among the houses, ostensibly for the pur- 
poses of trade. Suddenly they attacked the inhabitants of the 
new village, and destroyed the buildings. " Some people on 
horseback" escaped and reached the old village, " crying out, 
' The Indians have destroyed the new village ! ' " This was the 
signal to the Indians to attack the old village ; the war whoop 
rang out, and the people were murdered " in their houses with 
axes and tomahawks, and by firing on them with guns and pis- 
tols. " Women and children were seized and carried ofF pri- 
soners ; houses were plundered, and men, rushing to the defense 
of their families, were shot down by Indians concealed in their own 
dwellings. To aid in the work of destruction, the Indians set 
fire to the village on the windward side. The flames spread 
rapidly ; but when at their height, the wind suddenly changed 
to the west and prevented further devastation. A rally of the 
inhabitants was now effected by the energy of Domine Bloom. 
The gun at the mill-gate was cleared and discharged with effect, 
and the settlers* coming in from the fields, soon drove the In- 
dians out. By evening all was still again, and the bereaved in- 
habitants kept mournful watch, during the night, along the bas- 
tions and curtains. Twenty-one lives were lost, nine persons 
were wounded, and forty-five carried off" captives. The new 
village was " entirely destroyed, except a new uncovered barn, 
one rick, and a little stack of seed," and in the old village of 
Wiltwyck twelve houses were burned. 2 Writes Bloom, 3 of the 
scene after the Indians had retreated : " There lay the burnt and 
slaughtered bodies, together with those wounded by bullets and 

1 Documentary History, iv, 39. 8 Documentary History, in, 962. 

3 Documentary History, iv, 42, 44. 



148 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



axes. The last agonies and the moans and lamentations of 
many were dreadful to hear. I have been in their midst, and 
have gone into their houses and along the roads, to speak a word 
in season, and that not without danger of being shot by the In- 
dians. The burnt bodies were most frightful to behold. A 
woman lay burnt, with her child at her side, as if she were just 
delivered, of which I was a living witness. Other women lay 
burnt also in their houses. The houses were converted into 
heaps of stones, so that I might say with Micah, 1 We are made 
desolate and with Jeremiah, ' A piteous wail may go forth in his 
distress.' The Indians have slain in all twenty-four souls in our 
place and taken forty-five prisoners." 

The official record conveys in simple language a picture 
which leaves to the imagination but little office. Killed " in 
front of his house," " in his house," " on the farm," " burnt 
with her lost fruit," " burnt in her house," are but repeated in 
forms of detail until the blackened villages are again presented 
in the presence of the pitiless massacre, and the wails of the 
dying and the cries of the captives fade away in the wilderness. 
It was a terrible massacre ; but was it not terribly provoked ? 

The fate of the redoubt was not known. On the morning 
of the ioth, ten soldiers were commanded to ride down and 
ascertain its condition. They returned with the statement 
that the Indians had not been seen there ; that fugitives from the 
new village had reached there, but the soldiers had not dared to 
venture to the assistance of the settlers. On the 16th, a troop of 
soldiers was sent to the redoubt to bring up ammunition and to 
convey letters to be dispatched to Fort Amsterdam for assist- 
ance. This company was attacked, on its return, at the first 
hill, and the skirmishing continued until after passing the second 
hill. One of the soldiers was killed and six were wounded ; 
the remainder reached Wiltwyck with their wagons and am- 
munition. 

Immediately on the receipt of the dispatches which had been 
sent to him, Stuyvesant sent a commission to Fort Orange, 
to raise a loan, engage volunteers, and invite from the Mahicans, 
the Mohawks and the Senecas, the assistance which they had 
promised, under the treaty of 1660, in case of a revolt. The 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



149 



commissioner, however, found that the Mahicans and the Mo- 
hawks were at war, and that the Senecas had taken the field 
against the Minsis. From them no concerted action could be 
expected, while the people of Beaverwyck were in alarm lest 
the assistance which they had rendered to the Senecas should 
recoil upon their own heads. " The farmers fled to the patroon's 
new fort, Cralo, at Greenbush ; the plank fence which in- 
closed Beaverwyck, and the three guns mounted on the church, 
were put in order ; and Fort Orange, with its nine pieces of 
artillery, was prepared against an attack." 1 

Meanwhile a reenforcement of forty-two men, under com- 
mand of Ensign Niessen, was sent from Fort Amsterdam to 
Wiltwyck, and measures taken to enlist a more considerable 
force. On the 26th, Burgomaster Martin Kregier, with addi- 
tional men and a force of forty-six Long island Indians, was sent 
forward, and on the 4th of July, assembled at Wiltwyck in a 
general council of war. A few days after, five Mohawk and 
Mahican chiefs arrived from Fort Orange, on whose mediation 
a portion of the Dutch captives were restored ; but to proposals 
for peace the Indians would not listen unless they were paid 
" for the land, named the Great Plot," and rewarded with pre- 
sents at their Shawangunk castle within ten days. Scouting parties 
were then sent out by the Dutch, who succeeded in bringing in 
a few prisoners, from whom it was ascertained that the Indians 
had fallen back to their castle ; that this castle was " defended 
by three rows of palisades, and the houses in the fort encircled 
by thick cleft palisades with port holes in them and covered 
with the bark of trees ; " that in form it was quadrangular, but 
that the angles were " constructed between the first and second 
rows of palisades," the third row of palisades standing " full 
eight feet off from the others towards the interior ; " and that 
the whole stood " on the brow of a hill " surrounded by table- 
land. 2 

An expedition for the reduction of this castle was at once 
organized, consisting of " ninety-one men of Kregier's company ; 
thirty men of Lieutenant Stillwell's company ; Lieutenant Con-' 
wenhoven with forty-one Long island Indians," acting under 

x Ante t ^. 605 Brodkead, i, 711. 2 Documentary History, iv, 49. Appendix. 



150 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



their treaty of 1656 ; six Manhattan Indians ; thirty-five vo- 
lunteers from the settlers, " and seven of the Honorable Com- 
pany's negroes," with " two pieces of artillery and two wagons." 
The expedition started on the night of the 26th of July, under 
the guidance of Rachel la Montagne, who had been taken pri- 
soner on the 7th and escaped ; but she soon lost the trail, and the 
force was compelled to bivouac " until day-break," when the 
right road was found, and the march resumed. The pro- 
gress was slow, however; " much stony land and hills" inter- 
vened ; long swamps and frequent kils compelled halts and the 
construction of bridges, and mountain passes obliged the hauling 
of " wagons and cannon up and down with ropes." When 
about six miles from the castle, the expedition halted and one 
hundred and sixteen men were sent forward to surprise it. 
This force soon captured a squaw in a corn-field, who told them 
that the Indians had deserted the fort two days before. About 
six o'clock the entire expedition reached its destination, but 
found no foe to contest possession. 

On the morning of the 28th, the captive squaw having in- 
formed them that the Indians had fallen back into the moun- 
tains with their prisoners, a company of one hundred and fifteen 
men started in search of them. The place where they were 
supposed to be was that from which Rachel Montagne had 
escaped, but when it was reached it was found that " they had 
left that place also." The Indian squaw could not tell them 
where her people had gone, but pointed out a mountain some 
miles distant where she thought they might be found, but the 
march thither was also fruitless. The squaw then pointed out 
another mountain, but as the Dutch had had quite enough of 
marching, and as it had become apparent that the Indians were 
fully advised of their movements, they returned to the castle. 
In the afternoon the corn-fields were cut down, and the maize 
and beans, which had been preserved in pits, were destroyed. 
Three days were spent in ravaging the country. " Nearly one 
hundred morgens (two hundred and fifteen acres) of maize " 
were cut down, and " above a hundred pits of corn and beans" 
burned. On the morning of the 31st, the castle and all the 
houses were set on fire, " and while they were in full blaze," 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



151 



the Dutch marched out in good order, and returned to Wilt- 
wyck. 

The settlers now engaged in harvesting their grain, and the 
soldiers guarded them while at work, which was prosecuted day 
and night. Rumors of another attack were rife. One Davids 
arrived from Manhattan, with a letter from Couwenhoven, who 
had been sent down to the Dans-kammer in a sloop to nego- 
tiate with the Indians, and who wrote that four hundred men 
were preparing to attack the fort ; that the Indians " who lay 
there about on the river side made a great uproar every night, 
firing guns and kinte-kaying, so that the woods rang again." 
Davids himself had been on shore and slept one night with the 
Indians, who had four captives with them, one of whom, a 
female, informed him that the Indians were in force watching 
the reapers on the Great plot, and waiting opportunity to attack 
them. 

Couwenhoven continued his negotiations, and on the 20th of 
August, brought up a woman and a boy whom he had redeemed. 
His sloop was furnished with supplies and returned to the Dans- 
kammer, and instructions issued to him to continue his efforts 
for the release of the captives ; that failing in this, he should 
seize as many Indians as possible, " either on land, or by in- 
ducing them, with fair words," to trust themselves on his vessel. 
If he could do no better, if the Indians came thither with their 
captives, he was instructed to " endeavor to detain them on 
shore " " by means of intoxicating liquors," or by such other 
mode as he should deem expedient, until word could be con- 
veyed to the fort, and arrangements made to surprise and seize 
them." The mission was not successful. The Indians took 
all the powder and brandy which were offered them, and called 
for more ; but, beyond two children, no prisoners were released 
by them. To aid him, Couwenhoven employed a Wappinger 
sachem to visit them, " but when he had been two or three 
days with them in their new fort, two Mohawks and one Minsi 
came there with sewan and a long message, which rendered them 
so ill disposed towards him that they caused him to depart." 

Kregier now determined to resume the offensive. On the 
30th a council of. war was called, at which it was " resolved 



152 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



and concluded to attack, with one hundred and twenty men, 
the Indians who reside in their new fort, about four hours far- 
ther than their first fort." The expedition started on the after- 
noon of September 3d, a young Wappinger prisoner acting as 
guide, under a promise of freedom, and Davids as interpreter. 
Considerable difficulty was experienced in the march, the streams 
being swollen and heavy rains prevailing. On the 5th, about 
noon, the first maize field was reached, and two squaws and a 
Dutch woman discovered gathering corn. Passing these with- 
out alarming them, the fort was discovered about two o'clock, 
" situate on a lofty plain." The force was divided for the pur- 
pose of surprise, but discovery was made by a squaw, " who 
sent forth a terrible scream, which was heard by the Indians," 
who rushed from the fort, on which they were at work, to their 
houses to secure their arms. From thence they sprang into 
their corn-fields which bordered the kil, and in almost a mo- 
ment of time were on the opposite bank of the stream, where 
they courageously returned the Dutch fire. They soon retreated 
however, having lost their chief, Papequanaehen, and fourteen 
warriors, four women and three children killed ; and thirteen 
prisoners, " men and women, besides an old man," who, after 
accompanying his captors about half an hour, would go no 
further, and who was then taken aside and given u his last meal." 
Twenty Dutch prisoners were recovered, among whom was 
Mrs. DuBois and her children, around whose captivity tradition 
has thrown the story that at the time of the attack preparation 
was being made for her sacrifice at the stake, which was only 
delayed by the pleasure with which the Indians listened to the 
death-song which she chanted. 1 Unfortunately for the tradition, 
the Indians, at the time of the attack, were not constructing 
sacrificial fires or listening to death songs, but were completing 
their fort, which is described as " a perfect square with one row 
of palisades set all around, being about fifteen feet above and 
three feet below ground," with angles " of stout palisades, all 
of them almost as thick as a man's body, having two rows of 
port-holes, one above the other." Two of these angles were 

1 Record of the family of Louis Du cal Society, vol. I, part i, 44. 
Bois, 1 5 j Collections of the Ulster Histori- 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



153 



finished, and, when surprised, the Indians " were busy at the 
third angle." The Dutch found plunder in abundance, such as 
bear skins, deer skins, blankets, elk hides, etc., sufficient indeed 
to have well filled a sloop. Twenty-five guns were found, 
about twenty pounds of powder, thirty-one belts and strings of 
wampum, and indeed, all the movable wealth of the fugitives. 
Everything was destroyed except the ripening maize, and laden 
with spoil, and cheered by the gladness of the rescued captives, 
the expedition started for Wiltwyck. On the march one of 
the Indian children died, and its body was thrown into the creek ; 
Indians were seen hovering around, but no attack was made, 
and on the 7th, about noon, the fort was reached. 

The Indians, meanwhile, retreated to the Minnisink country. 
The loss which they had suffered was severe indeed, but it had 
fallen upon a single chieftaincy, of whom it is said " not more 
than twenty-seven or twenty-eight warriors, fifteen or sixteen 
women and a few children survived," and that these were 
" without houses or huts." 1 The confederated chieftaincies, 
however, " showed no signs of submission," and a new expedi- 
tion was sent out against them. This expedition consisted of 
a force of one hundred and two soldiers, forty- six Marsapequas 
and six freemen. Leaving Wiltwyck on the 1st of October, 
it arrived at the castle destroyed on the 2d. The Indians had, 
meanwhile, returned to it and thrown the bodies of their dead 
comrades into five pits, from which " the wolves had rooted up 
and devoured some of them. Lower down on the kil four 
other pits were found containing bodies ; and further on, three In- 
dians with a squaw and child that lay unburied and almost wholly 
devoured by the ravens and the wolves." A terrible picture 
of desolation was spread out on either hand, where but a month 
before the Indian lords had exulted in their strength. The 
Dutch completed the work of destruction. The remains of 
the castle were pulled down, the wigwams burned, and all the 

1 0'Callaghan says the Indians were " their numbers were estimated at about 

virtually destroyed, but the facts do not two hundred." Their losses subsequently 

warrant the conclusion. In the attack could not have reduced them to the sixty 

of 1659, "the savages, estimated at four stated. The Dutch had no confidence 

or five hundred warriors, harassed the in such a state of facts, for they relaxed 

Dutch day and night j" in that of 1663, none of their vigilance. 



154 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



maize which had been left was cut up and cast into the kil. 
Thence marching down the kil, " several large wigwams" were 
found, as well as " divers maize plantations," which were also 
destroyed. The expedition then returned to Wiltwyck. 

Negotiations for the release of the captives still remaining in 
the hands of the Indians were again opened. On the 5th of 
November, one of the chiefs agreed to return them in ten days, 
for which purpose a truce was granted by Couwenhoven, whose 
sloop remained at the Dans-kammer. On the 7th, two children 
were brought in by a Wappinger chief, who accompanied them 
as a friend and who promised to bring in a captive woman 
whom he had purchased. This woman he brought in on the 
13th, and received in exchange a Wappinger, called Splitnose, 
and one of the captive squaws and her child. On the 29th, 
the Wappinger again appeared and after satisfying himself that 
of the Indians in the hands of the Dutch none had died, said 
that six of the captives held by the Indians were then at the 
river side ; that the seventh had been sent for, and that all 
would be restored in three days ; but he was unable to redeem 
his promise. On the 2d of December he brought up two 
children, and stated that of the remaining five, three were in 
the hunting grounds and he could not find them, while the other 
two were detained by a sick squaw. He would, however, 
return them as soon he could obtain them, for which purpose 
he had already purchased Albert Heyman's oldest daughter. 
Whether the promise was fulfilled or not does not appear. 

In this condition matters remained until the spring of 1664, 
when the Amsterdam chamber instructed Stuyvesant to con- 
tinue the war until the Indians were exterminated. But Stuy- 
vesant had on his hands a controversy with the English towns 
on Long island, in which was involved the jurisdiction of the 
West India Company, and was under the necessity of hus- 
banding his strength for emergencies in which he might possibly 
be placed. Besides, wars were pending between the Mohawks 
and the Mahicans on the east, and the Senecas and the Minsis 
on the south, destroying trade and threatening to involve the 
Dutch settlements in the common destruction. Under the 

1 Documentary History, iv y 80, 8 1. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



155 



circumstances he deemed it prudent to entertain the solicitations 
of the neighboring chiefs for the establishment of peace with the 
Esopus cantons, especially as it was rumored that the English 
were encouraging the Wappingers and other tribes to unite in 
the general revolt. 

Sending an invitation to the Esopus sachems and their friends 
to meet him in council at Fort Amsterdam, a large delegation 
assembled there, and the customary preliminaries being disposed 
of, Sewackenamo, sachem of the W arranawonkongs, arose, and 
calling several times in a loud voice on his God, Bachtamo, 
prayed unto him to conclude something good with the Dutch, 
and that the treaty about to be formed, in the presence of the 
sachems assembled, 1 should be like the stick he grasped in his 
hand, firmly united, the one end to the other. Sigpekenano, 
a Long island chief, expressed his joy that peace was about to 
be concluded, and that the clan he represented was to share in 
its provisions. He hoped it would be a peace as firm and as 
compact as his arms, which he folded together ; and then, pre- 
senting his right hand to the director, added : " What I say is 
from the fullness of my heart ; such is my desire and that of all 
my people." 

The next day (May 16) Stuyvesant submitted the treaty. 
By its terms all that had passed was to be forever forgotten and 
forgiven. The land already given to the Dutch as an indemnity, 
and now again " conquered by the sword," including the two 
Shawangunk castles, became the property of the Dutch ; nor were 
the Indians to return thither to plant, nor to visit the village of 
Wiltwyck, nor any remote settlement, with or without arms. 
They were permitted, however, to plant near their new castle, 
and for the then present year only by their old castle, where 
they had already planted some seed. To prevent collisions in 
the future no Indian was to approach places where the Dutch 
farmers were pursuing agricultural labor, nor visit the village or 
the residences of the settlers. They might, however, trade at 

1 The chiefs in attendance were : Esopus, Oritanyj Staten Island, Matheno ; Mar- 

Sewackenamo, Onackatin, Powsawag ; sepeqau, and Reckhtiveck, Siegpekenano, 

^0/>/>/H£er,Tsees-sagh-gaw; Kitchawan, brother of Tackapousha, with twenty 

Megetsewacks ; Haver straw, Sessegehout } others of different chieftaincies acting in 

W tckquacsgeeks Sawanacoque ; Hackinsacks t the capacity of embassadors. 



156 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



the redoubt, in parties of three canoes at a time, by sending a 
flag of truce beforehand to give notice of their approach. For 
their accommodation on such occasions, a house was to be 
built beyond the creek, where they could leave their arms. 
Should a Dutchman kill an Indian, or an Indian a Dutchman, 
war was not to be declared ; but a complaint was to be lodged 
against the murderer, who should be hanged in the presence of 
both the contracting parties. All damages by the killing of 
cattle, or injury of crops, were to be paid for, and the treaty 
annually ratified by the exchange of presents. For the faithful 
observance of the treaty the Hackinsack and Staten island 
sachems became sureties on the part of the Esopus sachems, 
and were bound to cooperate against either party who should 
violate its terms. 

The signing of the treaty was announced by a salute from 
Fort Amsterdam, and caused universal satisfaction. In special 
commemoration of the event, Stuyvesant proclaimed a day of 
general thanksgiving, to be held throughout the province on the 
31st of May. To still further strengthen the position of the 
Dutch, he sent a commission to the Soquatucks 1 to negotiate a 
peace between them and the Mohawks, for which purpose a 
conference was heid at Narrington and a treaty concluded on 
the 24th. The day of thanksgiving was a day of peace through- 
out the settlements of New Netherland. 

But the brooding clouds of war were not dispelled. While 
yet the Esopus conflict was pending, the Mahicans had been sum- 
moning their clans ; the peace of Narrington was broken by 
the Abenaquis, who murdered the Mohawk embassadors, "insti- 
gated thereto, it is alleged, by the English ; " the war was 
renewed ; the Mahicans overran the country, killed a number 
of cattle at Greenbush, and " fired a house at Claverack, be- 
longing to Abraham Staats, in which they burnt his wife and 
two children" (July n). "Proceeding, next, in a body one 
hundred strong, against the Adohawks, they gave them battle, 
but the latter being more numerous, routed their assailants. 
The Mohawks, elated by success, pursued their foe, with whom 

lr The record says, "between the Ma- Indians." — 0 'Callaghan y n, 519, note, 
quaas and the Mahicans and Northern 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



157 



they renewed the fight the next morning at break of day, but were 
repelled with great loss." Filled with alarm, the colonists at 
Fort Orange sent in hot haste to request the presence and ad- 
vice of the director ; but he had other duties to perform — the 
guns of the English fleet were echoing over the waters of the 
bay — a more formidable enemy was knocking at the doors of 
New Amsterdam. 




Indian Inscription on 
Rocks at Esopus. 



158 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Indians under the English. — Treaties with the 
Five Nations, the Mahicans and the Esopus Indians. — 
The Jesuits and the War of 1689. 

HE English, under Richard Nicolls, took possession 
of Fort Amsterdam on Monday, September 6th, 
1664, and immediately changed its name to Fort 
James. Nicolls was proclaimed deputy governor for 
the Duke of York, in compliment to whom he directed that the 
city of New Amsterdam should thenceforth be known as New 
York. Fort Orange surrendered on the 10th, and its name was 
changed to Fort Albany, after the second title of the Duke of 
York. Following this change came a conference with chiefs 
of the Mohawks and Senecas, representing the Five Nations, and 
the conclusion with them, and with the Mahicans of New York, 
of a treaty of peace and alliance, similar to that which had 
existed with the Dutch. By the terms of this treaty the inde- 
pendence and equality of the nations parties to it, was recognized, 
while the tribes not in alliance with them, but " under 'the pro- 
tection " of, or in treaty with, the English were to be regarded 
as subjects of the crown, and to sustain, in that relation, the 
position of citizens for their protection and redress. These facts 
more clearly appear from its text, which is as follows : 

" Articles made and agreed upon the 24th day of September, 
1664, in Fort Albany, between Ohgehando, Shanarage, Soac- 
hoenighta, Sachamackas of ye Maquaes ; Anaweed, Conkee- 
herat, Tewasserang, Aschanoondah, Sachamas of the Synicks 
on the one part, and Col. George Cartwright, in the behalf of 
Col. Nicolls, governor under his royal highnesse, the Duke of 
Yorke of all his territories in America, on the other part, as 
followeth, viz : 

" 1. Imprimis. It is agreed that the Indian princes above 
named and their subjects, shall have all such wares and com- 




OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



159 



modities from the English for the future, as heretofore they had 
from the Dutch. 

" 2. That if any English, Dutch or Indian (under the pro- 
tection of the English) do any wrong, injury or violence to any 
of ye said Princes or their subjects in any sort whatever, if they 
complain to the Governor at New Yorke, or to the officer in 
chief at Albany, if the person so offending can be discovered, 
that person shall receive condign punishment and all due satis- 
faction shall be given ; and the like shall be done for all other 
English Plantations. 

"3. That if any Indian belonging to any of the Sachims 
aforesaid do any wrong, injury or damage to the English, Dutch 
or Indians under the protection of the English, if complaint be 
made to ye Sachims and the persons be discovered who did the 
injury, then the person so offending shall be punished and all 
just satisfaction shall be given to any of His Majesties subjects 
in any colony or other English plantation in America. 

"4. The Indians at Wamping and Espachomy and all 
below the Manhattans, as also all those that have submitted 
themselves under the protection of His Majesty, are included in 
these articles of agreement and Peace. 

" In confirmation whereof the parties above mentioned have 
hereunto sett their hands the day and year above written. 
Signed, etc." 

To the Five Nations proper some special concessions were made, 
which were included in the following supplemental articles, viz. : 

"These articles following were likewise proposed by the 
same Indian Princes and consented to by Col. Cartwright in 
behalfe of Col. Nicolls, the 25th September, 1664. 

" 1. That the English do not assist the three nations of the 
Ondiakes (Abenaquis), Pinnekooks, and Pacamtekookes, who 
murdered one of the Princes of the Maquaes^ when he brought 
ransomes and presents to them upon a treaty of peace. 1 

" 2. That the English do make peace for the Indian Princes 
with the Nations down the River. 2 

" 3. That they may have free trade, as formerly. 

1 The Abcncquis, or Eastern Indians. a The Minquas, Esopus and Navison 

clans of Lenapes. 



160 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



" 4. That they may be lodged in houses, as formerly. 

"5. That if they be beaten by the three nations above 
mentioned they may receive accommodation from ye English. " 1 

This treaty, to be correctly interpreted, must be considered 
in connection with the former relations of the Indians to the 
governments of New Amsterdam and New England. The 
Mahicans proper were under treaty with both the English and 
the Dutch, but representative cantons immediately on the 
Hudson held a recognized intercourse with the latter. These 
were included in the treaty under the terms, "the Indians of 
Wamping and Espachomy, precisely as were those of Long 
island, who had recognized treaties, and who were specified "as 
below the Manhattans but the Massachusetts Mahicans 
required no such recognition, the change in the government not 
having affected the treaty which existed between them and the 
English. The fact that the treaty was made with representa- 
tives of the Five Nations has no significance other than that with 
them the English had no previous treaty. Whatever special 
terms there were in its provisions with them were included in 
the supplemental articles, and these related only to the ques- 
tions of war and peace pending with tribes with whom the 
English were under treaty, and in reference to which negotia- 
tions were at once opened. 2 The new treaty made no other 
change in relation to the position of the representative tribes 
than was necessarily involved in the change of government. 
This clearly appears from the subsequent records of the com- 
missioners of Indian affairs, in which the Mahicans uniformly 
appear as having not only formed a treaty with the Dutch in 
1609, an d to nave renewed that treaty with the English, but as 
being " linked together in interest with the Five Nations," and 
consulted with and treated as allies of the government in the 
capacity of an independent nation. 3 

1 Colonial Hi story ,111, 67. to Governor Winthrop, in 1669: "If 

2 The war which was pending at the all my letters arrived in your hands 
time this treaty was made was instigated by you will find them all of one tenor, 
the English. — 0' Callag/ian,u, 519. The viz: the earnest desire of the Maquas to 
governor of New York and the governor conclude firm peace with the Mohi- 
of Massachusetts were the parties to the cands." — Neiv York Assi%e Record. 
treaty between the Mohaiuks and the 3 Colonial History, iv, 744, 902, etc. In 
Mahicans. Governor Lovelace writes an address to the Massachusetts commisr- 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



161 



But English possession brought with it additional changes in 
the connection of the Indians with provincial authorities. To 
the boundary lines of territorial governments, which had already 
passed through and subdivided the M ahicans and the Lenapes, 
court districts and county lines were added. Indians of the 
same tribal families, who had hitherto been held responsible to 
and had their treaty relations with different governments and 
provinces, while consolidated in some respects, were further 
separated by special assignment to the charge of different court 
districts. Thus the Wappingers and those residing south of the 
highlands and Long island, had their treaty intercourse with the 
governor and authorities at New York ; those north of the high- 
lands on the east, and north of the highlands and south of the 
Katskills on the west, including principally the Esopus clans, 
were placed under the justices at Kingston, and the Mahicans on 
the east and those on Beeren island and north of the Katskills on 
the west, came directly under the authorities at Albany, at 
which place the general council-fire was lighted and inter- 
course held with the Five Nations and the Mahicans. While 
these divisions were the result in part of the established centres 
of population and treaty intercourse under the Dutch, they sub- 
sequently added materially to the disintegration of the river 
tribes, and gave to them much of that character of independent 
cantons which has been assumed as representing their political 
status. From this disintegration the Five Nations escaped, with 
results to their consolidated recognition which cannot be too 
highly estimated. That they would have been similar sufferers 
had they been similarly situated, the records of the negotiations 
with them after the war of the revolution, are a sufficient indi- 
cation. Considered only as a whole and treated as a whole, 
they were a power; but treated with as independent tribes they 
were shorn of their strength. With them the history of the 
Mahicans and the Lenapes repeated itself with fearful emphasis. 

The policy adopted by the English was liberal and reasonable, 
and contributed at least to the temporary improvement of the 

sioners in 1744, the chiefs used the covenant, and this is the belt which is 
following language : " We are united the token of that covenant." 
with the Six Nations in one common 



162 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



condition of the Indians. The frictions which had prevailed 
during the Dutch administration were very largely removed by 
a law declaring that " no purchase of lands from the Indians, 
after the first day of March, 1665," should be " esteemed' a 
good title without leave first had and obtained from the governor 
' and after leave so obtained ; " that purchasers should bring be- 
fore the governor " the sachem or right owner " of lands which 
were purchased " to acknowledge satisfaction and payment " for 
the same, when all the proceedings were to be entered on record 
and constitute a valid title. " All injuries done to the Indians 
of what nature soever," were made punishable on complaint 
and proof in any court, without cost to the complainant, " in as 
full and ample a manner as if the case had • been between 
Christian and Christian. " The contraband trade in fire-arms 
was broken up, and only those who were licensed were permitted 
" to sell guns, powder, bullets, lead, shot, or any vessel of 
burthen or row boat (canoes excepted)." The sale or gift to 
the Indians of " rum, strong waters, wine and brandy," without 
license, was forbidden under penalty of " forty shillings for each 
pint so sold or disposed of." To prevent difficulties arising 
from cattle straying upon the unfenced lands of the Indians, and 
to encourage the latter to fence their fields, the colonists were 
directed to assist them in " felling trees, riving and sharpening 
rails " and setting posts, allowing " one Englishman to three or 
more Indians." These reforms were eminently satisfactory to 
the Indians, although many abuses were subsequently perpetrated 
by those who were licensed under them. Not less so was the 
treaty stipulation that the privileges of trade were to be uniform, 
in all English plantations, to Indians in alliance with the govern- 
ment, and the fact that such alliance secured the friendship of 
the "great sachem." Tranquillity was soon established, and 
although the Mohawks and the Mahicans and Abenaquis^ at the 
east, and the Senecas and Minsis, at the south, continued their 
struggle, the conflict was not around the centres of civilization. 
Gradually the Minsis, more immediately represented on the 
Hudson; yielded to the superior advantages possessed by their 
enemies, or to the inducements which the English offered ; while 
those more remote made common cause with the French. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



163 



The annual renewal of the treaty with the Esopus Indians, 
required by its terms, was delayed until October, 1665, when, 
as their intercourse in the future was to be with the English, the 
treaty was rewritten in the English language, with such changes 
in its terms as the change in government required, 1 as appears 
from its text : 

" An agreement made between Richard Nichols, Esq., Go- 
vernor, under his Rovall Highness the duke of York, and the 
Sachems and People called the Sopes Indians : 

" That no act of hostility shall at any time bee committed 
on either part, or if any damage shall happen to be done by 
either party to the Corn, Cattle, Horses, Hoggs, Houses, or any 
other goods whatever of the other party, from the goods of the 
other party shall return be given upon demand for the same. 

" 2. That if anv Christian shall wilfully kill an Indyan, or 
any Indyan a Christian, hee shall bee put to death. And the 
said Sachems do promise on their part, to bring any such Indyan 
to the -officer in chiefe at the Sopes to receive his punishment 
there. 

" 3. That a convenient House shall bee built where the said 
Indyans may at any time lodge, without the Forts of the said 
Town, in which House the Indians are to leave their armes, 
and may come without molestation to sell or buy what they 
please from the Christians. 

-"4. That in case any Christian should kill an Indyan, or any 
Indyan a Christian, the peace shall not be broaken, or any Revenge 
taken before satisfaction is demanded by the one party and 
refused by the other, allowing a competent time for the appre- 
hending of the offender, in which case the Indyans are to give 
Hostage, till the offender is brought to punishment, the said 
Hostage to be kindly treated and shall receive no other punish- 
ment but imprisonment. 

1 Compare with synopsis of treaty of The original manuscript of the treaty, 

1664. The statement that Nicolls made and the wampum belt which the Indians 

the treaty the occasion for the purchase gave in accepting it, are preserved in 

of additional lands, apparently indicated the office of the clerk of Ulster county, 

by the fifth section, appears to have been It was renewed at different periods until 

the expression in definite terms of the the Indians ceased to exist or had entirely 

general language of the treaty of 1664, removed to the west. 
" the lands now conquered by the sword." 



164 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



" 5. That the said Sachems and their subjects now present 
do, and in the names of themselves, and their heirs forever, 
give, grant, alienate and confirm all their right and interest, 
claim or demand to a certain Parcell of Land, lying and being to 
the west and south west of a certain creek or River, called by the 
name of Kahanksen, and so up to the head thereof, where the 
old Fort was ; And so with a direct line from thence through 
the woods and crosse the Meadows to the Great Hill, lying 
and being to the west or south west thereof, which Great Hill 
is to be the true west or south west Bounds of the said Lands. 
And the said creek called Kahanksen, the north or north east 
Bounds of the said Lands, herein mentioned, to be given, granted, 
and confirmed unto the said Richard Nicolls, governor under 
his Royal Highness, the Duke of York, or his assigns, by the 
said Sachems, and their subjects, forever, and to hold and enjoy 
the same as his free land, and Possession against any claim here- 
after to bee madee by the said Sachems or their subjects, or any 
their heirs and successors. 

" In token of the aforesaid Agreement, the aforesaid Sachems 
do deliver two small sticks, and in confirmation thereof, do deliver 
two more small sticks, to the said Richard Nicholls. And 
in the name of the Indyans their subjects, one of the subjects do 
deliver two other round small sticks, in token of their assent to 
the said agreement. And the said Richard Nicholls does deliver 
as a present to their Sachems three laced redd coates. 

"6. The said Sachems doth engage to come once every 
year, and bring some of their young People, to Acknowledge 
every part of this agreement in the Sopes, to the end that it may 
be kept in perpetual memory. 

" 7. That all past Injurves are buried and forgotten on both 
sides. 

" 8. That the young Sachem called Ningeerinoe hath Liberty 
for three years to plant upon a small neck of land, over against 
a small creek called Choughkanakanoe, unless the said young 
Sachem be warned off by order to remove, and give place to 
such Christians as shall have Order from the said Richard 
Nicolls, or his assignees, to plant there, at which time the said 
young Sachem is to receive a Blankett, by way of Curtesie, and 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



165 



to remove to the other side of the Creek, without delay, or 
claiming any future interest thereupon. 

"9. In consideration of the premises, the said Richard 
Nicolls doth farther give and pay to the said Sachems and their 
subjects, forty blanketts, twenty Pounds of Powder, twenty 
knives, six Kettles, Twelve Barrs of Lead, which payment we 
acknowledge to have received, in full satisfaction, for the pre- 
mises, and do bind ourselves, our heirs and successors forever, 
to perform every part of this agreement, without any fraud or 
reservation of mind ; and further, that we will maintain and 
justify the said Richard Nicolls, or his assigns, in the full and 
peaceable Possession of the said Tract of Land, Royaltyes and 
Privileges for ever, against any Nation of Indyans whatsoever, 
pretending right to the same. 

" In testimony whereof we have sett our markes to two 
several writings, the one to remaine in the hands of the Sopes 
Sachems, the other upon record, this 7th day of October, 1665." 

The parties to the treaty on behalf of the Indians were sa- 
chems Onackatin, 1 Naposhequiqua, Senakonama (Sewakanamo), 
and Shewotin. The signature of Nicolls and of the sachems 
was witnessed by " Jeremias Van Rensleiar, Philip Pieterson 
Schuyler, Robert Nedham, S. Salisbury and Edw. Sackville," 
and by the following " Esopus young men " : Pepankhais, Robin 
Cinnaman "a Pekoct sachem, " Ermawamen, and Rywackus. 
One of the chieftaincies was apparently without a sachem ; the 
full number was completed in 1670, when, on the nth of 
April, " a new made sachem of the Esopus Indians, named 
Calcop," appeared before the justices of Ulster and confirmed 
the agreement. 

The Minsis proper maintained hostilities until 1675, when they 
yielded to what Dr Golden denominates " the full play of the 
warlike genius" of their enemies, but more properly, as already 
intimated, to the fearful disadvantages under which they were 
placed by the refusal of the English to supply them with fire- 
arms and powder, in accordance with the treaty with the Senecas 
and Mohawks^ and were made tributary to the Senecas. In the 
east the contest still raged. Peace was made in 1675, but it 

1 Oghgotacton j his lands were near the present village of Walden. See appendix. 



166 



THE INDIAN IHIBES 



was one of accommodation on the part of the Abenaquls and their 
allies, many of whom sympathized with King Philip and eagerly 
shared his fate. Nor were they disheartened when, on the 12th 
of August, 1676, that great leader ga/e up his life. In that re- 
markable struggle for the restoration of the Indians to independ- 
ence, one of the branches of the formidable alliance, the Pen- 
nacooks, was crushed and its fugitives, bleeding and torn, sought 
refuge in the friendly villages of their kindred on the Hudson. 
Reference has already been made to the immediate subsequent 
history and organization of these fugitives as the Schaticooks. 1 
After their settlement, the authorities made no little effort to in- 
crease their number by inducing those who had found refuge 
elsewhere to remove to the lands assigned, and in this were par- 
tially successful. At the close of the French war of 1698, and 
subsequently, these efforts were renewed; 2 meanwhile a very 
considerable number of them had reached Canada, and were 
encouraged by the French to invite their brethren of New York, 
as well as their old Mahican allies, to unite with them. The 
result of these efforts was the organization of what was known 
as the St. Francis Indians. 

Meanwhile an element other than that of war had been 
introduced to divide the Indian tribes. With the French, reli- 
gious zeal and commercial ambition walked hand in hand, and 
the banner of the cross became the pioneer of that of France. 
No sooner had Champlain discovered the territory of the St. 

x Ante, p, 62. The date of this the fugitives from that conflict are de- 
organization, as well as the original clas- scribed by Hubbard as having fled towards 
sification of the elements of which the Albany, the conclusion is that the Schati- 
Schaticooks were composed, is distinctly cooks were no other than the Indians de- 
stated by Earl Bellomont, the governor, scribed by him. There was another 
in 1698 : " Our Skackoor or river Indians organization of Schaticooks, composed of 
and which river Indians having been New England and Hudson river Indians, 
formerly driven out of those eastern They were located on Ten Mile river, 
parts by the people of New England." — so called, in the present county of Dutch- 
Colonial History, iv, 380, 7 1 5. Col- ess. This organization is particularly 
den fixes the date of their settlement described by De Forest (History Indians 
as 1672, while one of their chiefs, speak- of Connecticut, 407), as having been com- 
ing in 1700, states the occurrence as menced by one Gideon Manwehu, a 
happening "six and twenty years ago," Pequot, sometime about 1735, and who 
or in 1674. — Colonial History, iv, 744. succeeded in calling about him a hun- 
As there was no war against the New dred warriors. 

England Indians by which an exodus of 2 Colonial History, iv, 380, 715, 744, 

this kind would be made necessary prior 902. 
to the downfall of Philip in 1676, and as 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



167 



Lawrence than he was found declaring, that while the aggrand- 
izement of France was earnestly to be desired, yet " the salvation 
of a soul was worth more than the conquest of an empire." 
At his instance, La Carnon, an ambitious Franciscan priest, 
entered the field as a missionary, and in 1616, penetrated the 
Mohawk country, passed to the north into the territory of the 
Wyandots and reached the river of Lake Huron. In 1633, 
the Society of Jesus succeeded the Franciscans with fifteen 
missionaries, the history of whose labors is connected with the 
origin of every established town in the annals of French Ame- 
rica ; " not a cape was turned, nor a river entered, but a Jesuit 
led the way." 1 The converts of these missionaries were at first 
from among the enemies of the Five Nations \ the latter regarded 
them as foes, and in their incursions upon the Hurons, spared 
them not. The fate of the missionary village of St. Joseph and 
of Fathers Daniel, Lallemand and Brebeuf, and the captivity of 
Father Jogues, are but types of the toil and sacrifice which 
attended their labors, and of the heroism with which they met 
death. The fruit of their efforts was the possession by France 
not only of New France and Acadia, Hudson's bay and New- 
foundland, but a claim to a moiety of Maine, of Vermont, and 
to more than a moiety of New York, to the whole valley of 
the Mississippi, and to Texas even, as far as the Rio Bravo del 
Norte, whither the flag of France followed their footsteps and 
reared colonies. 

The Dutch gave very little attention to the movements of 
the missionaries, or to the extension of the dominion of France. 
Intent upon trade and having no ambition to extend their pos- 
sessions beyond the three rivers which they claimed, the 
conversion of the Indians scarcely received from them a thought. 2 
The missionaries improved their advantage, and in 1654, appeared 
in the territory of the Onondagas, where they found many Huron 
captives who had formerly received their instruction. Missions 

1 Bancroft , in, 122. attended his preaching at Albany, but 

2 Domine Megapolensis, who came without understanding a word that he 
over in 1643, under an agreement with said. The claim that he was the pre- 
Van Rensselaer, made some effort to decessor of Eliot, has very lictle founda- 
learn the Mobaiuk language, with a tion, and none whatever in the aid which 
view to preach to them in their castles, but the government extended to him. Brod- 
without much success. A few Indians head, 1, 375, 376. 



168 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



to the Oneidas and Senecas speedily followed ; ehapels sprang 
into existence, and long before the English obtained possession 
of New Amsterdam, the solemn services of the Roman church 
were chanted in the heart of their future province. The pos- 
session of these privileges, however, was not destined to be 
permanent. The Oneidas murdered three Frenchmen (1657), 
and the French retaliated by seizing Iroquois. Two years 
later the missionaries had abandoned the country, and the French 
and the Five Nations were again at war. Finding success hope- 
less without stronger military support, the aid of the king of 
France was invited, and scarcely had the English succeeded in 
planting the flag of St. George on the walls of Fort Orange, 
ere the colony of New France was protected by a royal regi- 
ment, and Courcelles, a veteran French soldier, established as 
its governor. The missionaries now renewed their work, and 
reestablished themselves in the territory of the Senecas and 
Onondagas, and converted one of the villages of the Mohawks* 
The progress of the French soon became more formidable. 
Serious inroads were made on the territory claimed by the Eng- 
lish, and the Iroquois were gradually yielding to the efforts of 
the Jesuits. Except in the valor and good faith of the Indians 
more immediately under English influence, the province had 
no protection. The Jesuit fathers became spies, and, in 1682, 
were enabled to advise the governor of Canada, that circum- 
stances had materially changed ; that they were now accustomed 
to the woods, were acquainted with all the roads through them, 
and that the French could, from Fort Frontenac, fall on the 
Senecas in forty hours and crush them by an unexpected blow. 2 
When Colonel Dongan came over, in 1683, as governor of 
New York, matters wore a threatening aspect indeed. He was 
under instructions to preserve friendly relations with the French, 
and besides this, was himself an earnest Catholic ; but he was 
not blind to the danger which menaced the province, or slow 
to use his power to avert it. Wherever the French priests 
traveled they set up the arms of France in token of French 

1 Although the priests had no little or castle of Caghnawaga. 
difficulty with the M ohawks, they ulti- 2 Documentary History New Tork y x, 
mately succeeded in converting the village 97. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



169 



possession ; Dongan gave to his Iroquois allies medals showing 
that they were British subjects, and caused the arms of the 
Duke of York to be erected in all their castles. The French 
invited their converts to Canada ; Dongan solicited them to 
remain, and obtained a promise from those who had already 
gone to return. He would give them lands and priests and 
built them a church. In the fall of 1686, he sent fifty pitizens 
of Albany and New York to winter with the Senecas^ and used 
his influence with the Mahicans to join the Iroquois in an alli- 
ance for mutual defense. 

Meanwhile the Duke of York (1685), under the title of 
James II, had succeeded the sensual Charles II, as king of 
England. The duke was an intense Catholic, and his eleva- 
tion gave courage to the Jesuit fathers, who could now ask, 
with additional force, his aid in extending their work. Dongan 
appealed to him and endeavored to arouse him to the necessity 
of protecting the province and of maintaining the alliance with 
the Iroquois. " The Five Nations," said he, " are a bulwark 
between us and the French and all other Indians. This go- 
vernment has always been, and still is, at a great expense to 
keep them peaceable and annexed to this government, which is 
of that moment that upon any occasion I can have three or four 
thousand of their men upon call." The interests of trade also 
required this alliance, in his opinion, not less than the security 
of the English. To this end he asked for Catholic priests in 
the interests of the English, in order to oblige the French 
priests to retire to Canada and the " country be divested of the 
pretense for their presence." But James had already bound 
himself to Louis XIV in a treaty of neutrality ; to that treaty 
his attention had been called by Louis, on complaint from La 
Barre, the governor of Canada, and if he had the disposition to 
aid Dongan, he was under obligations to avoid a rupture with 
France. 

La Barre's administration was not a success. The Senecas 
attacked some French trading canoes, and after organizing a 
considerable force to proceed against them, he had fallen back 
without conflict, terrified at the rumor that Dongan had promised 
them the aid of " four hundred horse and four hundred foot " if 



170 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



they were attacked. The only fruit of his expedition was a 
treaty which he concluded with the Onondagas, Oneidas and 
Cayugds, the force of which may be inferred from the fact that 
only six hours were spent in its negotiation. His subordinates 
were disgusted at his proceedings, and refused to restrain their 
" sovereign contempt for the general's person." " His design," 
says Demeneles, " was to attack the Senecas^ but instead of show- 
ing him any civility, they did not even condescend to come and 
meet him, and gave an insolent answer to those who proposed 
it to them. If people had anything to say to them, let them 
take the trouble to come and meet them." De Lamberville, 
the Jesuit missionary at Onondaga, alone sustained him. The 
difficulties of prosecuting war against the Senecas were not, in 
his opinion, properly estimated. The Indians would not be 
found in their villages or forts, but would prowl everywhere, 
" killing without if possible being killed." For the conflict they 
were ready ; nay, had received " with joy " the intelligence that 
they were to be attacked, confident that in such an event they 
would be able to strip, roast and eat the French. The result 
of the affair was the removal of La Barre, the appointment of 
De Denonville as his successor, and the receipt by Dongan of 
instructions to observe strict neutrality. 

The French were fully determined to attempt the destruction 
of the power of the Iroquois. Louis himself was convinced 
that such a step was necessary. De Denonville had examined 
the situation thoroughly, and had informed his royal master that 
the reputation of the French had been " absolutely destroyed " 
among the Indians, whether friends or enemies, by La Barre's 
conduct, and that unless this was arrested, nothing could avert 
a general rebellion, the ruin of trade and the extirpation of the 
French. War was necessary, too, " for the establishment of 
religion," which could not otherwise be successfully prosecuted. 
" Merit in the eyes of God," and the " possession of an em- 
pire of more than a thousand leagues in extent," from which 
"great commercial advantages" would eventually be derived, 
demanded the effort and the expense which it involved. The 
king responded with an addition to the French force ; gave his 
entire approval to the war, and, in addition to the means to be 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



171 



employed, advised that prisoners be taken and sent to him for 
service as galley-slaves. 

The work entrusted to Denonville was not long delayed. 
Treachery was resorted to, to secure prisoners. De Lamberville 
succeeded in decoying a considerable number of Iroquois chiefs into 
Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, from whence they were re- 
moved in irons to Quebec and hurried to France ; 1 Indian allies 
were called in, and arrangements for an aggressive movement 
consummated. He had no contemptible foe to encounter. 
** The Iroquois force," by his own authority, consisted of " two 
thousand brave, active men, more skillful in the use of the gun 
than the Europeans, and all well armed ; besides twelve hun- 
dred Mahicans (Loups), another tribe in alliance with them as 
brave as they," 2 to say nothing of the English whom he expected 
to assist them. 

In July, 1687, ne marched into the territory of the Senecas, and 
took formal possession " in the name of the king." On his 
way he was attacked by the Senecas with such vigor that he was 
obliged to bivouac on the field, and witness, without being able 
to prevent, the tortures which the Senecas inflicted on the pri- 
soners who had fallen into their hands. In the morning the 
Senecas retreated, and on reaching their village it was found that 
they had destroyed it and abandoned their fort. The French 
cut up the growing corn without molestation, and successfully 
completed the construction of Fort Niagara. The campaign 
cost the lives of one hundred Frenchmen, ten French or 
Catholic Indians, and eighty Senecas. The latter appealed to 
Dongan, who supplied them with powder, lead and arms, and 

1 The number taken was twenty-seven, indicative of their importance. The alli- 
of whom " Taweeratt, the chief warrior ance referred to in the text, is spoken of 
of Cayouge," was one. — Colonial History, as having existed for some time. In 
in, 560, 579. Father Millett was charged 1674, the Mahicans were at war with the 
with being a party to their capture. — lb. Ottaivas, and the Senecas became arbitra- 
621. The French account is that forty tors to establish peace. In 1684, it is 
chiefs were taken prisoners, one of whom said " six or seven hundred Mohegans 
is called Orehaoue, " one of the most were preparing to go to the assistance of 
considerable chiefs of their nation." — the Iroquois, as the Ottaiv as were aiding 
Colonial History, ix, 464. " The general the French." The number of their 
in chief of the entire Iroquois nation." — warriors stated in the text is no doubt 
Ibid., 465. exaggerated, but there is no question that 

2 The cooperation of the Mahicans they could at any time bring more war- 
with the Iroquois is frequently referred to riors to the field than the Mohawks. — 
in the French records, and in 'language Colonial History, ix, 259, 460, 466, etc. 



172 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



called upon their allies to unite together to defend the territory 
which France had invaded. In addition to this a special meet- 
ing of the council was held at Fort James, and a bill passed 
for levying a tax of a " penny in the pound out of the estates of 
the freeholders," to aid in defraying expenses. Palisades were 
ordered for fortifying Albany and Schenectady, and the Five 
Nations were requested to send down " their wives, children and 
old men, lest the French fall upon them in winter ; that they 
who come be settled, some at Katskill, and along the river," 
where they would be in security and in readiness to assist in the 
common defense should it be necessary. Every tenth man of 
the militia was ordered to Albany, and other measures taken 
for defensive war. " I will do what is possible for me to save 
the government from the French," said Dongan to De Denon- 
ville, " until I hear from the king, my master ;" and " advise 
Monsieur Denonville to send home all the Christians and In- 
dian prisoners, the king of England's subjects, you unjustly do 
detain." 

Meanwhile the Senecas remained on the war path. Dongan 
had offered his mediation for peace on condition that the captive 
chiefs should be restored, the fort in the Seneca country razed, and 
the spoils taken from that nation restored. To these proposi- 
tions De Denonville would not listen. In July, 1688, the 
Iroquois advanced to dictate the terms. Haaskouaun, their chief, 
with five hundred warriors sat down before Quebec. Twelve 
hundred warriors remained within call. If in four days the French 
would concede to Dongan's terms, the place would be spared ; 
'if not, it would be overwhelmed. The French governor 
yielded, and on the sixth of September following abandoned Fort 
Niagara and the possession of the country south of the great 
lakes. The imprisoned chiefs, however, he did not restore. 

In this situation matters remained until January, 1689, when 
James was driven from the throne of England by William, the 
Prince of Orange. France espoused the cause of the deposed 
king, and declared war against England, and on both continents 
the conflict was opened. Before the formal declaration came, 
however, the Iroquois had resumed hostilities. Visiting Albany 
in July, they acquainted the magistrates that the French had 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



173 



not returned their chiefs, and that they were resolved to be 
revenged. 1 From thence they proceeded to Canada, and on 
the twenty-fifth of August, fifteen hundred in number, they landed 
on the south side of the island of Montreal, burned the houses, 
sacked the plantations, and put to the sword all the men, 
women and children without the fortifications. u In less than 
an hour, two hundred people met death under forms too hor- 
rible for description. Approaching the town of Montreal, they 
made an equal number of prisoners, and after a severe skirmish 
became masters of the fort, and of the whole island, of which 
they remained in possession until the middle of October. In 
the moment of consternation, De Denonville ordered Fort 
Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, to be evacuated and razed. From 
Three Rivers to Mackinaw, there remained not one French 
town, and hardly even a post." 2 

Anticipating an aggressive movement on the part of the Eng- 
lish and their allies, representation had already been made to 
Louis. Governor Andros, v/ho had succeeded Dongan, 3 
promptly declared his determination to regard his Indian allies 
as " subjects of the crown of England," and the French gave 
up all hope of detaching them even through the influence of 
their priests. To retain possession of the territory was their 
only expectation, coupled with a determination to inflict such 
injury as they could. Under these instructions Count de Fronte- 
nac was appointed governor-general, and with a considerable 
force landed at Quebec within forty days after the attack of the 
Iroquois on Montreal, and the first news he met, on entering 
the St. Lawrence, was an account of it. He determined to 
retaliate, not by marching against the Iroquois, but against their 
English allies who had furnished them with arms and were 
their supporters. 4 To carry out this determination an ex- 
pedition was organized to be conducted in three divisions, the 
first to rendezous at Montreal and proceed towards Fort Or- 
ange ; the second, at the Three Rivers and make a descent on 

1 Colonial History , in, 599. 4 Frontenac brought with him, as a 

2 Bancroft, in, 179. Colonial History, peace offering to the Iroquois, the chiefs 
in, 621. who had been treacherously betrayed and 

3 New York was annexed to New Eng- p taken to France. They were subsequent- 
land, under the government of Sir Ed- ly restored to their people. 

mund Andros, in 1688. 



174 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



New England, and the third, to proceed by water for the re- 
duction of Fort James. Count de Frontenac was to conduct 
the land expedition against Fort James, where he was to be 
met by the fleet under the command of Caffiniere, while the 
governor, De Callieres, was to conduct the expedition against 
Albany. The latter expedition left Montreal at the commence- 
ment of February, 1690. The point of attack was concealed 
from the Indian allies, by whom it was accompanied, until the 
place of destination was nearly reached, when a council was 
held and the destination announced. The Indians objected, 
and the conclusion was finally taken to attack Schenectady in- 
stead of Albany. Thither the invaders directed their steps, 
and on the morning of Sunday, February 10th, repeated the 
massacre by the Senecas and their allies at Montreal. The at- 
tacking force separated in two divisions, and entered the gates 
in two directions. At the point of junction, the shrill whoop 
of the savage burst upon the air, and the implements of death 
and the blazing torch completed the work of destruction. No 
house were spared in the town, except one belonging to Major 
Condre (Sanders), the commandant, who, with his men, sur- 
rendered to the French division on the promise of quarter, and 
that of a widow and her six children, in whose care the French 
commander, who had been wounded, was placed. The lives 
of between fifty and sixty persons, old men, women and child- 
ren, who escaped the fury of the first attack, were spared. 
Upwards of eighty well built and well furnished houses were 
destroyed. Sixty men, women and children were killed, and 
twenty-seven carried away prisoners. A few succeeded in es- 
caping and fled through the snow to Albany, a distance of 
twenty miles, and gave the alarm. Before the local forces 
could be rallied and the Mohawks and their allies called in, 
however, the French were far on the retreat. They were pur- 
sued by the Mohawks, who fell upon their rear and harassed 
them until they reached Montreal. The second expedition 
reached Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, which place was 
burned ; but the attack on New York was abandoned. 

The people of New York were divided in sentiment in regard 
to the claims of William and James. Immediately following 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



175 



the announcement of the accession of William, Jacob Leisler, 
a captain of the militia, at the instigation of the friends of the 
Protestant king, took forcible possession of'Fort James, in the 
name of William and Mary, while Nicholson, who had been 
appointed governor, fled to Europe. It was in the midst of 
these civil commotions that the atrocities at Schenectady terri- 
fied the people and calmed the domestic factions. New York, 
Massachusetts, and Connecticut united for the reduction of 
Montreal and Quebec. An expedition by land and water 
was agreed upon. Sir William Phipps was placed in command 
of the fleet, and the land forces assigned to the command 
of General Winthrop of Connecticut. The fleet arrived 
before Quebec about the middle of October, 1690, but the 
land forces only penetrated as far as Wood creek, in the pre- 
sent county of Washington, when sickness, want of provisions 
and dissensions among the officers, compelled a return. In 
the meantime, Quebec had been strengthened by the French, 
and bade defiance to the English fleet, which soon returned 
to Boston. 

In 1 69 1, Colonel Sloughter was appointed governor of the 
province, and, immediately on his arrival, Governor Leisler and 
his son-in-law Milborne, were arrested and executed for treason. 
This, with the renewing of the covenant chain with the Iro- 
quois, was the only act of his administration, death having sud- 
denly ended his career. His successor was Benjamin Fletcher, 
under whom, in the succeeding year, the English, with their 
Indian allies, carried on the war against the French, Capt. John 
Schuyler making a successful attack on the French settlements 
beyond Lake Champlain. In February, 1693, Frontenac in- 
vaded the Mohawk territory, surprised and burned their castles, 
killed many and took three hundred prisoners. The invasion 
cost the invaders thirty men, but the Mohawks were completely 
dispersed. The forces at Albany, accompanied by such Mahi- 
cans as could be rallied, hastened to their relief, pursued the 
retreating enemy and recovered most of the prisoners. Go- 
vernor Fletcher reached Albany soon after, and so pleased were 
the stricken chiefs at the celerity of his movements that they 
gave to him the flattering title of Lord of the Great Swift 



176 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Arrow. 1 The tide of war then rolled along the frontiers of 
New England, and the settlements at Oyster river in New 
Hampshire, and Haverhill in Massachusetts, were destroyed, 
Hatfield and Deerfield, on the Connecticut, shared the same fate. 
In 1696, Frontenac invaded the territory of the Onondagas, but 
without much success, 2 while Indians in detached bands warred 
for the respective powers with which they were in alliance. In 
the year following the war terminated in September, by the peace 
of Ryswick, and the principal combatants withdrew. Colli- 
sions and acts of hostility continued between the Iroquois and 
the allies of the French, however, until two years later. Go- 
vernor Bellomont was exceedingly anxious to so order the ter- 
mination of these hostilities that the Iroquois should be placed in 
acknowledged supremacy over their foes, and the French go- 
vernor was not less mindful of his own and the interests of his 
allies. The latter triumphed, and both parties laid down the 
hatchet at his feet on terms of equality. Through a feeling 
springing in part from this result, and in part from the antago- 
nisms which had been engendered by the part which they had 
taken in the war, the assembly of New York, in 1700, made a 
law for hanging every Catholic priest that should come voluntarily 
into the province. 

The part which the Mahicans and Minsis of the Hudson took 
in this war, is only incidentally stated. The alliance between 
the Iroquois and the former, was of no little magnitude in the 
opinion of the French, as has already been stated. That alli- 
ance appears to have been suggested by the Mohawks.* In 
reference to the more detached bands, the Mohawk speaker in 
the conference of 1683, advised : " The Schahook Indians, in our 
opinion, are well placed where they are — they are a good guard; 

1 These castles were three in number, ondaga, Feb. 18, 1694-5, brought this 
and were destroyed on the 7th and 8th message : The whole Five Nations send 
of February. — Colonial History, iv, 16, seven hands of wampum to inform the 
ao, Z2. The Mohawks never forgot Mahikandcrs, or River Indians, that the 
their punishment, but in after years re- Count Frontenac would fall upon the 
peated that they knew what it was " to Onondagas in the spring. They desired 
be whipped and scourged by the French." the assistance of three hundred Christians, 

2 Bancroft, in, 170. with as many River Indians and Maki- 

3 At a subsequent period the aid of the kanders as can be got together." — Colonial 
Mahicans was asked by the council at History, iv, 123. 

Onondaga. " Arnout Vielle, from On- 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



177 



they are our children, and we shall take care that they do their 
duty. But you must take care of the Indians below the town 
so that they may be of more service to you. We advise you 
to bring all the river Indians to be under your subjection at 
Albany to be ready on all occasions." A portion of the Minsis, 
who had settled among the OttawasJ had joined the French 
alliance. Governor Dongan asked the aid of the Iroquois to 
bring them home. " One of them," said he, " is worse than 
six of the others, therefore all means must be used to bring 
them home." The confederates accepted the mission, and in- 
duced a considerable number to return. 2 Governor Andros was 
not less positive in his personal overtures to them. When he 
visited the province in May, 1688, he invited their aid, and 
promised to give lands to those who might desire to locate their 
families. 3 At a meeting of the council, September 17th, 1689, 
it was ordered that Robert Sanders use his endeavors to procure 
the " Indians of the Long Reach, Wawyachtenok and Esopus to 
come up here (Albany) to lie out as scouts upon the borders of 
this county," and that the " Justices of the Peace of Ulster 
county assist him in persuading the Indians." On the 22d of 
February, 1690, it was ordered by the same body, " that the 
Indians living at Beere island and Katskill be persuaded to go 
and live at Katskill, 4 and be ready on all occasions to be em- 
ployed as scouts or otherwise." In April following, the Tappans 

1 The Ottaivas occupied the southwest- 2 Colonial History, in, 808. 
ern part of Canada at this time. They 3 "Several Indians living on both sides 
were almost constantly at war with the Hudson's river came to His Excellency, 
Five Nations, and also with the Mahicans. some at Albany, and others at a town 
Their relations with the Esopus Minsis nigh the river called Kingstone ; he corn- 
were intimate and friendly, and many of manded them to demean themselves 
them came thither to trade with the quietly towards the Christians their neigh- 
English at Kingston. In 1691, a com- bors, invited such as were gone elsewhere 
pany of them, while visiting the Esopus to return with their families, and that if 
country, fell victims to the small-pox. — they wanted land it should be laid out for 
Colonial History, in, 776, 778. In the them in convenient places." — Colonial 
Land Papers, official record is made that History, in, 568. 

Punganis, whose land was near Walden, 4 On a map accompanying Proud 1 's 

in Orange county, pledged the same to History of Pennsylvania, Katsban is ap- 

Robert Sanders as security for the payment plied to a village immediately north of 

of £70, that he had then (1689) been Saugerties creek, and Katskill to a vil- 

absent with the Ottaivas for ten years, and lage at the junction of the Kadcr's and 

that his brother " intending to go to the the Katskill creek, west of the present 

wars," wished Sanders to keep the land village of Katskill. These two villages 

" till his brother pays him for it." — Land perhaps explain the text. 
Papers, in, 2*. 



178 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



reported that they had sent twelve men to the Senecas, and 
should send more," and the Kicktawancs and other Westchester 
families stated that they had sent six of their number. 1 

The Schaticook Indians were actively employed. In addition 
to their services as scouts, a large number of them joined in the 
pursuit of the French after the destruction of Schenectady, and 
also in the several expeditions against Canada. When the ex- 
pedition under Winthrop returned, Captain John Schuyler 
voluntarily embarked, at Wood creek, with a company consist- 
ing of " twenty-nine English soldiers, one hundred and twenty 
Mohawk and Scahook Indians, 2 to go to Canada and fight the 
enemy." This force made the successful attack on the French 
beyond Lake Champlain, already noticed, and returned to Al- 
bany with nineteen prisoners and six scalps. The Wappingers, 
or " Indians of the Long Reach," as they were called, accepted 
the invitation to unite in the war, and with their head sachem 
and " all the males of the tribe able to bear arms," went to 
Albany, 3 and from thence to the field. A portion of them, 
however, appear as the allies of the French, and as such to have 
destroyed Hatfield and Deerfield, under the lead of Ashpelon, 
one of their chiefs. 4 While those who were allies of the Eng- 
lish were absent, a large portion of their lands, embracing the 
present county of Putnam, were fraudulently entered by Adolph 
Phillipse, and after their return a fifty years' controversy was 
opened in regard thereto. The Minnisinks hesitated at first to 
embark in the war, and sent Paxinos, their chief, to New 
York to consult with Governor Dongan in regard to the 

1 April 5, 1690. The Indian Sachems Mohawks were frequently swelled in this 

of Kightoivan, Wossecamer, Wescaivanus, manner. 

did promise to send six men to go against 3 Colonial History, vn, 868. 

the French." — Documentary History , n, 4 Hubbard's History of New England. 

237. An Indian called guaetseitts, "who for- 

" April 19, 1690. The sachems of merly lived on Hudson's river," is also 
Tappan, called Mendoassyn, and a captain mentioned as one of those who had 
called Wigworakum, said that they had " lately done mischief in Connecticut." — 
sent, fifteen days ago, twelve men to ye Colonial History, in, 562, 563. The 
Maquase and Sinnekas, and when returne governor of Canada, in i698-'99, de- 
shall send more, being strong, in all sixty manded of the Five Nations, among other 
young men." — Ibid. conditions, the return of" a Mahikander 

3 " Mohawks, 92 ; River Indians, 66 j Indian who is at Onondaga, a prisoner." — 

the latter under Estewapo, Estowacamo, lb,, iv, 498. These Indians had joined 

Wannesackes and Magataw." — Colonial the French prior to or during the war. 
History, in, 800, 802. The ranks of the 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



179 



matter. 1 They subsequently contributed their quota, however, 
and rendered important service. 2 

The losses sustained by the Iroquois and their allies aggregated 
nearly one-half of the number engaged. The Mohawks, Oneidas 
and Senecas lost over one-half of their warriors, the latter being 
reduced from thirteen hundred to six hundred. The river In- 
dians, however, were the greatest sufferers, having lost nearly 
two-thirds of the force which they contributed to the war. 3 
Fifteen hundred Indians fell victims to the interests of the Eng- 
lish, while the loss sustained by the allies of the French proba- 
bly equalled that number. In addition to those lost in conflict, 
the Iroquois suffered the permanent detachment of the Praying 
Indians, who took up permanent residence " about four leagues 
above Montreal," and laid the foundation of that " formidable 
and fatal reduction " subsequently known as the Caghnawaga 
nation, 4 and more modernly as the St. Regis Indians. Assimi- 
lating with the French in faith, they soon did so in politics. 
They went off in small bodies, secretly, and after they had be- 
come located, drew to them considerable numbers of Schati- 

tion." — " Four hundred of our best In- 
dians." — Colonial History, of the State 
of Neiv York, m, 836. " In the time of 
the last war the clandestine trade to Mon- 
treal began to be carried on by Indians from 
Albany to Montreal. This gave rise to the 
Konuaga or Praying Indians, who are en- 
tirely made up of deserters from the Mo- 
hawks and river Indians, and were either 
enticed by the French Priests or by our mer- 
chants in orderto carry goods from Albany 
to Montreal, or run away from some mis- 
chief done here. These Indians now 
consist of about eighty fighting men and 
live about four leagues above Montreal. 
They neither plant nor hunt, but depend 
chiefly upon this private trade for their 
subsistence. These Indians in time of 
war gave the French intelligence of all 
designs here against them." — Co/den, Co- 
lonial History, v, 732. "They became a 
thorn to the frontier towns and settle- 
ments of New England during the whole 
of the French war, and of the American 
Revolution." — Schoolcraft. They num- 
bered, in 1745, two hundred and thirty 
fighting men. 



1 Paxinos has been classed as a Shawa- 
noe chief, but such was not the case at 
this time, whatever he may have been 
subsequently. 

7 " Ordered, that a message be sent to 
Minnisinks to order them to send up their 
young men to Albany to join with the 
Five Nations against the French." — 
Councif Minutes, May 6, 1688. 

3 This includes only those residing in 
the then county of Albany. The fol- 
lowing return made to Gov. Fletcher in 
1698, gives the strength and losses of the 
several tribes : 

Strength, In 1689. In 1698. Loss. 
Mohawks, 270 no 160 

Oneidas, 180 70 no 

Onondagas, 500 250 250 
Cayugas, 320 200 120 

Senecas, 1300 600 700 

River Indians, 250 90 160 

Total, 2820 1320 1500 

Colonial History, iv, 337. 

4 " The French debauched many of our 
Five Nations to their Religion and Inter- 
est, actually drew several off to go and 
live in Canada, and laid the foundation 
of that formidable and fatal reduction 
which now forms the Cagnawaga na- 



180 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



cooks as well as of Mohawks and O net das. 1 The Mohawks felt 
the loss deeply, and exhausted every effort to reclaim the wan- 
derers, but without avail. 

Not only was foundation laid for the subsequent weakness of 
the Iroquois by the defection of the Praying Indians, but by the 
settlement among the Lenapes of the Shawanoes of Maryland and 
Virginia. At the outbreak of the war the Shawanoes were con- 
testing the advance of the Iroquois in the south, and were also 
engaged in war with the Cherokees. In the latter they suffered 
severely, and but for the timely aid of the Mahlcans, would 
have been destroyed. The Lenapes invited them to remove to 
their country ; the invitation being accepted, the Minsis brought 
the matter to the attention of the government of New York, 
in September, 1692, on an application to permit their settlement 
in the Minnisink country. The council gave its assent on con- 
dition that they should first make peace with the Five 
Nations. 2 This was soon effected, and* the messengers de- 
parted, accompanied by Arnout Vielle, an interpreter, and three 
Christians, to visit the country of the Shawanoes and consum- 
mate the transfer. 3 On the 6th of February (1694), Major 
Peter Schuyler announced to the Five Nations, in conference 
at Albany, that " one of the Christians " had returned with the 
intelligence that seven nations or chieftaincies, " in all a thou- 
sand souls," were on their way. 4 Confirmation came also from 



1 The leader of the Cagknaivagas was 
known to the French by the name of 
Kryn. A party led by him was promi- 
ment in the attack on Schenectady, and 
also on Salmon Falls. On their return 
from the latter expedition they were 
attacked by a party of Algonquins and 
Abenaquis, who, mistaking them for En- 
glish Mohawks, killed two and wounded 
ten. " Among the slain was Kryn, the 
< great Mohawk whose death was the 
more deplored, because Frontenac and 
the Jesuits hoped that through his influ- 
ence all the New York Mohawks would 
eventually be drawn to Canada." — Brod- 
head, n, 618 ; Colonial History , ix, 467. 

2 River Indians returned from a resi- 
dence with the Shawanoes, brought with 
them some Shawanoes who intended to 
settle with the Minnisinks, asking permis- 



sion to that end. Council directed that 
the Shawanoes, must first make peace 
with the Five Nations. — Council Minutes, 
Sept. 14, 1692 

3 " We are glad that the Shawanoes, 
who were our enemies, did make their 
application to you last fall for protection, 
and that you sent them hither to endea- 
vor a peace with us ; also, that you have 
been pleased to send Christians along with 
them to their country to conduct them 
back again. We wish they were come 
to assist us against the common enemy." — 
Answer of Five Nations, July 4, 1693, 
Colonial History, iv, 43. 

4 " It seems the heavens are propitious 
unto us, for this day we have the fore- 
runners of the Shawanoes Farr Indians 
come to town with one of our Christians 
that was sent thither, who gives us an 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



181 



another quarter. Captain Arent Schuyler visited the Minnisinks 
in February, and there learned that the Shawanoes were expected 
early in the ensuing summer. 1 This expectation was realized, 
and the Minsis of the Hudson as well as those of the Delaware 
received to their embrace "the second son of their grand- 
father," after having given their pledge " to be faithful subjects 
of the king." 2 

At the time of the incorporation of the Shawanoes with the 
Minsis, the latter were at the lowest point in their history. 
Broken by their long wars with the Senecas and Mohawks, and 
scourged by the small pox, 3 they were but a remnant indeed of 
that proud people who had once successfully disputed the sove- 
reignty of the continent. Their warriors hunted in fear ; their 
chiefs trembled at the anger of the Senecas.* The Shawanoes 
were proud, warlike and cruel to an extent sufficient to draw 



account that they are coming with seven 
nations of Indians, with women and 
children, in all a thousand souls, and are 
upon their way hither with Arnout, the 
interpreter." — Colonial History, iv, 90. 
" In the intrim that they were treating 
with them (the Five Nations), Gerret 
Luykasse, with two of the Far Indians 
called Shawanoes arrives who brings news 
that Arnout, the interpreter, with a con- 
siderable number of those heathen, will 
be here next summer." — Schuyler, Colo- 
nial History, iv, 97. 

1 " Enquiring after news, they told me 
that six days ago three Christians and two 
Shawans Indians, who went about fifteen 
months ago, with Arnout Vielle, into 
the Shawans country, were passed by the 
Mennissincks going for Albany to fetch 
powder for Arnout and his company : 
and further told them that said Arnout 
intended to be there with seven hundred 
of the said Shawans Indians, loaden with 
beaver and pelteries,, at the time the Indian 
corn is about one foot high, which may 
be in the month of June." — Colonial 
History, iv, 98. 

2 Council Minutes, 1 694. 

3 This malady was not confined to 
any district of country. Charlevoix says 
that in 1690 not less than fifteen hundred 
Indians perished in the Canada wilder- 
ness ; and Ledwick writes in 1692, that 
of those residing in the vicinity of New 



Amsterdam : " The small pox took many 
of them away lately." Loskiel says that 
the Indians discovered a remedy in what 
he calls "fossil oil" (petroleum). He 
adds, "an old Indian in the small pox 
lay down in a morass to cool himself, 
and soon recovered. This led to the dis- 
covery of an oil spring in the morass, and 
since that time many others have been 
found, both in the country of the Dela- 
wares and the Iroquois." About the 
time spoken of by Loskiel, the epidemic 
was severe in the Esopus country. An 
entire company of Ottaivas visiting there 
were among its victims. Garneaus His- 
tory of Canada, 1, 228 ,• Neiv York His- 
torical Collections, 2d series, 11, 249 j 
LoskiePs Moravian Miss. 117. 

4 The Mennissinck sachems further said 
that one of their sachems and other In- 
dians were gone to fetch beavor and 
pelteries which they had hunted, and 
having heard no news of them are afraid 
that the Sinneques have killed them for 
the lucar of the beavor, or because the 
Mennissincks have not been with the 
Sinneques as usual to pay their duty; and 
therefore desire that your excellency will 
be pleased to order that the Sinneques 
may be told not to molest or hurt the 
Mennissincks, they being willing to con- 
tinue in amity with them — Schuyler, 
Feb. 1693, Colonial History, iv, 98. 



182 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



from their enemies the name of Satans. On terms of peace 
with, but unsubdued by the Iroquois^ their presence inspired the 
AdinsiS)&nd opened up to them a future in which their united 
war cry challenged the best efforts of their English and Indian 
foes. Half a century later they could say to their former rulers, 
the Senecas : " We have once been women and ashamed to look 
down at our petticoats, but as you have taken them off and 
encouraged us to begin a quarrel with the English, we are 
determined never to submit again to that ignominious state 
while there is one of us alive," 1 while a thousand warriors, 

" Quivered and plumed, and lithe and tall, 
And seamed with glorious scars/' 

responded with rude but earnest approval. 

1 yohnson Manuscripts, iv, 131. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



183 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Mahicans in Council — Queen Anne's War — Mi- 
grations — Missionary Labors — The War of 1746. 

EACE, such as had not fallen upon the wildernesses 
of the New World since the Europeans added their 
conflicting interests to the field of savage contests, 
prevailed at the opening of the eighteenth century. 
The contending tribes had buried the hatchet at Montreal, and 
Senecas and Hurons, Onondagas and Ottawas, Mohawks and 
dhenaquis* through their representatives smoked together the 
pipe of peace. Beside their ancient river the Mahican warriors 
hunted the deer, and their hand-maidens cultivated the fields, 
wove wampum in the woods, and chanted their maternal songs. 
Large numbers of them gathered around the " tree of welfare" 
which had been planted for them, and their dispersed New 
England relatives, at Schaticook, and in the councils with the 
tribes lifted up the voice of thanksgiving and proclaimed signifi- 
cant history. " We are glad to see you and your lady," said So- 
quans, the Mahican speaker, to Governor Bellomontat a confer- 
ence at Albany, August 31st, 1700 ; " 'Tis now about two years 
ago since we first saw you. The sun of peace shined then and 
so it does still. In the times of old there were not any Christians 
on this river, and the first Christians that came settled upon 
Rensselaer's land, whom we loved as soon as we saw them, and 
with whom we made a strict alliance and a covenant chain 
which has been kept inviolable ever since. This chain we are 
now come to renew. We are resolved to live and die here in 
this government, and do pray that our father will support and 
protect us." " I thank you for your kind expressions," replied 
Bellomont ; " and you may be sure I will do every thing to 
maintain the covenant chain firm and steadfast. I should be 

1 Peace was established between the 1700. — Colonial History, iv, 7 58. 
Abenaquis and the Five Nations, Oct. 7, 




184 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



very glad if you would invite your friends the Pennacokes and 
eastern Indians to come and settle with you. Since the Five 
Nations and you are linked together in interest, it would be an 
advantage to engage those other Indians in the same interest." 1 
At a conference held July 18, 1701, Soquans again appeared 
with joyful heart. " We are now two hundred fighting men 
belonging to this county of Albany 2 from Katskill to Skachkook," 
said he, "and hope to increase in a year's time to three hundred. 
Our neighbors, the Maquas^ have not been so fortunate, for 
their tree was burnt. We have been so happy and fortunate 
that our number is increased to that degree that we cannot all 
be shaded by one tree, and therefore desire that another tree, 
besides that at Skachkook, may be planted for us, for we are 
in hopes that our number will daily increase from other parts. 
It is now ninety years ago since the Christians first came here, 
when there was a covenant chain made between them and the 
Mahikanders, the first inhabitants of this river, and the chain 
has been kept inviolable ever since. We have been so happy 
as never to have had the least flaw or crack in the chain. There 
have been breaches round about us, and great differences, but 
that chain, wherein the Maquas and we are linked, has been 
kept inviolate, and we pray that our father will keep the same 
so forever." " We will plant you another tree," responded 
Lieutenant Governor Nanfan, "which shall be so large and 
flourishing that the branches will shade and cherish as many of 
your friends as will be persuaded to come and live with you. 
You know now by the experience of ninety years that we have 
the best laws and government in the world. You may depend 
upon it that I will do every thing to maintain the covenant chain 
firm and inviolate." 3 

Similar were the addresses delivered at a conference held by 
Governor Cornbury, on his first visit to Albany after his appoint- 
ment : " You desired," said Soquans, " to know the number and 
strength of our people, which we now acquaint you with, viz : 
one hundred and ten Indians at Skachkook, and eighty-seven 

1 Colonial History, iv, 744. on the east, and north of the Katskill 

3 The county of Albany then embraced mountains on the west. 

the entire country west of the Connecticut 8 Colonial History , ix, 902, etc. 

river, and north of Roelofs Jansen's kill 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



185 



below the town (i. e., below Albany), in all one hundred and 
ninety-seven fighting men. You renewed the covenant chain two 
days ago (July 18, 1702), and we come now and ratify the same 
and make the chain stronger, which has been kept inviolable, 
between us and the Christians of this province, these ninety 
years. About twenty-six years ago, Sir Edmund Andros, then 
governor of this province, planted a tree of welfare at Skachkook, 
and invited us to come and live there, which we very luckily 
complied with, and we have had the good fortune ever since, 
that we have increased that tree, and the very leaves thereof 
have grown hard and strong ; the tree is grown so thick of 
leaves and boughs that the sun can scarce shine through it, yea 
the fire itself cannot consume it ; and we now desire, that our 
father may strengthen that tree and cause the leaves to grow so 
thick that no sun at all may shine through it." 

The Pennacooks who had found refuge in Canada, 1 sent re- 
peated invitations to their kindred at Schaticook to join them, 
promising them " houses, land and provisions," in the name of 
the French governor. These invitations were rejected, and 
Paasquin and Ackkonepak, two young Pennacook sachems, 
accompanied Soquans to Albany to acquaint the governor of 
their action. They were kindly received and their determina- 
tion commended. " Tell your kindred," said Governor Corn- 
bury, " to come and live with you. They shall not only have 
land assigned them gratis, but a fort shall be built of stockadoes 
to secure you and them from any sudden attempts of the enemy ; 
your land is tough and hard, I will order next spring a plow to 
break up the ground for them to plant in, and they shall be pro- 
tected and secured as well as any other Indians under the queen 
of England's protection. If they are inclined to be instructed 
in the Christian religion, the minister here shall teach them." 
And the Pennacooks accepted the mission, and went out after 
their brethren. 

The relations existing between the government and the Ma- 
hicans under the treaty of 1664, had further illustration at this 
time. In August, 1702, Minichque, one of their sachems, 
while visiting Albany, was mortally wounded by a party of four 

1 Ante, p. 63. 



186 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



negroes. The authorities took immediate charge of him, nursed 
him tenderly, and arrested the offenders and brought them to 
trial. Minichque and his brethren were satisfied, and the former, 
although lamenting that his death should have been caused by 
those who had " no courage nor heart," charged Soquans to 
make intercession for his murderers. " Upon his death-bed," 
said Soquans, in performing this mission, " our great sachem 
desired that no revenge should be taken, saying that he forgave 
the offenders, and prayed that they might be reprieved." " Since 
blood was shed, blood must be shed again," replied Cornbury, 
and on the 19th df August the principal offender was executed 
in atonement for the wrong which he had committed. 

Through all these conferences 1 and proceedings, two princi- 
pal facts are conspicuous : the equality of the Mahkans in all 
treaties with the authorities, from the earliest Dutch adventurers 
at Fort Orange to the more powerful occupation by the English, 
and the duality of the organization called the Schaticooks, in 
which the principals appear as Mahicans and the New England 
fugitives as Pennacooks. Had equal fullness in record been made 
at earlier periods, the first point would not have so long been in 
obscurity. That it finally appears is due to the wisdom of Go- 
vernor Bellomont andto the selection of Colonel Peter Schuyler — 
than whom the Mahicans had no more sincere friend — as secre- 
tary to the commissioners of Indian affairs, under instructions, 
" upon any message from any or all of the Five Nations of 
Indians, or from the nation of Schakook or river Indians," to 
immediately call the commissioners together, and " to keep a 
record of all proceedings in reference thereto." The faithful- 
ness of this record preserves the truth of history, and places the 
Mahicans in the position which they justly occupied, but which 
had perhaps been clouded by the destructive wars through 
which they had passed, and the demoralization which had fallen 
upon them incident to their proximity to the marts of European 

1 Conferences with the Indians were not I ever endured in my whole life. I was 

the most pleasant affairs. They were shut up in a close chamber with fifty 

almost invariably held in the old Albany sachems, who besides the stink of bear's 

Court House. Gov. Bellomont writes of grease, with which they plentifully daub'd 

one which he held with the Five Nations themselves, were continually either smok- 

in October, 1700 : " My conference lasted ing or drinking." — Colonial History, iv, 

seven days and was the greatest fatigue 714. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



187 



traffic. Yet judged by this standard, their ancient rivals, the 
Mohawks, were not their peers. Zinzendorf writes of the lat- 
ter that their passion for strong drink, by making them hope- 
lessly indolent, had rendered them unworthy of their position 
as head of the Six Nations ; that though chiefest in dignity, they 
were " despised because of their levity an<J paid off with the 
title," while the Onondagas were the actual " Judahs among 
their brethren." Years of intimate association with the Euro- 
peans had made the one " prophets without honor in their own 
country," while the absence of such association had magnified 
the dignity and prowess of the others. 

The peace of 1698 was of short duration. James II, the 
dethroned king of England, died in exile in France in Septem- 
ber, 1 70 1, and Louis acknowledged the son of James as the 
successor to the throne. The death of King William followed 
in March, 1702, and Anne was declared his successor. The 
war which followed, and which was known in Europe as 
the war of the Spanish succession, was called in America, 
Queen Anne's war. It continued until the peace at Utrecht, 
April 11, 17 13. New York scarce knew of its existence, 
although the province was put in condition for defense. The 
Indians, who had hitherto been the principal contestants and 
principal sufferers in these wars, were at peace. The Five 
Nations refused to break their treaties by attacking the Abenaquis 
who had espoused the cause of France, while the Abenaquis in 
turn refused to make war upon the Five Nations. But while 
New York escaped, New England was ravaged with ruthless 
hand. Casco, Wells, Deerfield, and Haverhill, were given to 
flame and sword ; the aged and those of tender years shared the 
fate of the vigorous and manly ; death hung on the frontiers ; 
the prowling Indian seemed near every farm house. " There 
is," says Bancroft, u no tale to tell of battles like those of 
Blenheim, or Ramillies, but only one sad narrative of rural 
dangers and sorrows. The Indians stealthily approached towns 
in the heart of Massachusetts, as well as along the coast, and 
on the southern and western frontiers. Children, as they 
gamboled on the beach ; reapers, as they gathered the harvest ; 



188 THE INDIAN TRIBES 

mowers, as they rested from using the scythe ; mothers, as they 
busied themselves about the household, were victims to an 
enemy who disappeared the moment a blow was struck. Such 
were the sorrows of that generation. " 1 

Special efforts were made, early in 1 710, to induce the Five 
Nations and the Mahicans to violate their neutrality and embark 
in the conflict. The success of the French, in establishing 
themselves among the northern and western Indians, annoyed 
the English of New York, who saw in embroiling the peaceful 
tribes in war the only mode of arresting more formidable al- 
liances. Nicholson, who had been appointed governor in 1688, 
and who had fled to England during the Leisler revolution, had 
met with some successes on the northern coast, and was anxious 
to have the Indians in the field as part of an expedition for the 
reduction of Quebec, which he had planned and in which he 
hoped to win unfading laurels. To promote the ends of both, 
and at the same time contribute to the relief of New England, 
he sailed for Europe, taking with him Colonel Peter Schuyler and 
representative chiefs of the Mohawks and Mahtcans. On their 
arrival in England this delegation was received with marked 
distinction. 2 "Clothed like tragedy kings, by tailors of the 
theatre, taken in the coaches of state, they were waited upon 
by Sir Charles Cottrell, and, on the 19th of April, introduced 
to her majesty by the Duke of Shrewsbury. They were en- 
tertained by many noble persons, particularly the Duke of 
Ormond, who favored them with a review of the life-guards. 
Their portraits were taken and are now preserved in the British 
Museum, together with their names." 3 So much attention, so 

1 Bancroft, m, 2.16. chiefs of the six nations, which lie between 

2 Bancroft^ in, 209. New England and New France or Canada, 

3 The best and most methodical account who lately came over with the West In- 
of the visit of these chiefs was published dia fleet, and were clothed and entertained 
in the great annual history by Mr. Bo- at the Queen's expense, had a public au- 
yer, entitled " The Annals of Queen dience of Her Majesty at the palace of 
Anne's Reign, for 1710, " from which the St James. They made a speech by their 
following is an extract : "On the 19th interpreter, which Major Pidgeon, who 
of April, Te-Gee-Neen-Ho-Ga-Pronu and was one of the officers came with them, 
Sa-Ga-Yeau-Qua-Prah-Ton (King Hen- read in English to Her Majesty." Sir 
drik, Colonial History, v, 358), of the Richard Steele, in the Tatler of May 
Maquas; Elow-Oh-Kaom and Oh-Teath- 1 3, 1710, gives an account of the visit. 
Ton-No-Proiv, of the river sachems, and Miner, in his History of Wyoming, 
the Ganajohhore sachem, five kings or endeavors to locate one of the visiting 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



189 



great a display of the power and glory of England, had its effect ; 
the chiefs readily promised to return and rally their clans to the field; 
were hurried home with this promise fresh on their lips, and 
started on their mission of war. 

Events moved slowly in the wilderness at that time, and a 
full year elapsed before the response came. On the 17th of 
August, 171 1, the chiefs met Governor Hunter, with their war- 
riors. The sachem of Schaticook brought thirty-eight men ; the 
Mahicans, fifty-eight under Wampasa, whom they had chosen as 
their captain ; the Shawanoes, twenty-six ; the Mohawks one hun- 
dred and forty, and the remaining tribes of the Five Nations, 
about five hundred. Each delegation was separately received, 
that of the Five Nations, on account of its numbers, being 
especially honored by a salute of five guns as they passed in review 
before Fort Albany. The conference opened on the 24th 
when, " each nation seated on the ground by themselves," Go- 
vernor Hunter thanked them for their response to the queen's com- 
mands, and informed them that they would be expected to join 
General Nicholson in the expedition against Canada, which 
had been organized. 1 This expedition had already sailed from 
Boston, with seven veteran regiments, and was to .be met by the 
colonial forces of New York, New jersey and Connecticut, 
with their Indian allies, under the walls of Quebec. 2 Roasted 
oxen, barrels of beer, the firing of cannon, and some " private 
presents" to the proper chiefs, completed the work, and all pro- 
fessed their readiness to march at the queen's command. 

The French were not idle spectators of these preparations, 
and in their efforts to defeat them brought out in strong colors 
the power and influence which they had established over their 
Indian allies through their priests. A great war festival was 
held at Montreal, and the war song chanted by seven or eight 
hundred warriors, many of whom were the flower of the Iro- 
quois and Mahican nations, whom the priests had drawn thither. 

chiefs among the Delaware s, but is not chems of ye Five Nations and river In- 
sustained by the record. The Canajo- dians, particularly those lately come from 
harie chief, whose name is not given, Great Britain, waited upon His Excel- 
died in England soon after his arrival, lency, Gov. Hunter," &c. — Colonial 
The first conference after their return History, v, 217. 
was held at Albany, Aug. 10, 171 1, of 1 Colonial History, v, 267, etc. 
which the record says : "Some of ye sa- a Bancroft, in, 221, etc. 



190 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



From the far west the response was even more enthusiastic. 
Tribe after tribe, even the Osages and Missouris, sprang to the 
relief of the French. " Father," said they to Vaudreuil, " be- 
hold thy children compass thee round. We will, if need be, 
gladly die for our father — only take care of our wives and our 
children, and spread a little grass over our dead bodies to pro- 
tect them against the flies." 

Circumstances prevented actual collision. The fleet sailed 
from Boston, after many delays, only to be invested by heavy 
fogs, and to meet with the wreck of eight of the vessels of 
which it was composed and the loss of eight hundred and eighty- 
four men drowned. 1 The land forces were moved to the sup- 
port of the fleet. " On the 29th of August," says Governor 
Hunter, " I left them all upon their march beyond Albany 
towards the lakes, completely armed, clothed, accoutred and 
victualled, to be followed next day by eight hundred Indians 
of the Five Nations and their allies from Albany." How 
far the march extended does not appear ; it was arrested by 
the disaster to the fleet, and became a successful and unmo- 
lested retreat. 

The Tuscaroras, of North Carolina, one of the southern 
tribes of Iroquois, did not escape from the war so fortunately. 
Resisting the encroachments of the proprietaries of Carolina, 
who had assigned their lands to the German Palatines, they 
were almost destroyed in their, fort on the river Taw, on the 
26th of March, 1713, having lost eight hundred in prisoners, 
who were sold as slaves to the allies of the English. The 
largest portion of the survivors of this disaster, " unwilling to 
submit and unable to contend," removed to the north, joined 
the confederated tribes of New York, and were accepted and 
established as the sixth nation, or " children," of the Iroquois. 2 
They were located immediately west of, and in juxtaposition to, 

1 Colonial History, v, 277. promise to live peaceably among us, and 

3 At a conference at Albany, Sept. 25, since there is peace every where, we have 

1 7 14, the Five Nations, in their address to received them. We desire you to look 

Governor Hunter, said : "We acquaint you upon the Tuscarores that are come to live 

that the Tuscarore Indians are come to among us as our children who shall obey 

shelter themselves among the Five Na- our commands and live peaceably and 

tions. They were of us and went from orderly." — Colonial History, v, 387. 
us long ago and are now returned, and 



OF HUDSON'S RIVES.. 



191 



the Oneidas* and as they increased in strength became useful 
to their associates. 2 

Peace and intimate association with their European neighbors, 
which had proved so disastrous to the Mahicans in former times, 
did not improve their condition. They came regularly to the 
conferences, but in smaller numbers and in a condition betoken- 
ing great indulgence in intoxicating liquors. At the conference 
of 1720, the commissioners specially commended their faithful- 
ness to their covenant, as distinguished from the Five Nations, 
who had " suffered themselves to be deluded by the French and 
their emissaries,'' but did not hesitate to ascribe the poverty of 
which they complained to " drinking and laziness," and to ad- 
vise them to " be sober and active in hunting and planting" in 
the future. 3 In 1722, Governor Burnet, in renewing the an- 
cient covenant with them, remarked : " I need not tell you 
how destructive your intemperance has proved, and how much 
your people are diminished by your excessive drinking of rum, 
the women as well as the men being guilty of being often drunk. 
Let me advise you to be more sober in the future, and not to 
spend what you get by hunting in strong drink, and above all 
not squander your Indian corn for rum." But was it the fault of 
the Indians that the assertions of the governor were but too well 
founded? Said the Mahicans in their answer, through Ampamit 4 
their speaker : " We are sensible that you are much in the 
right, that rum does a great deal of harm. We approve of all 
that you said on that point, but the matter is this, when our 
people come from hunting to the town or plantations and ac- 
quaint the traders and people that we want powder and shot and 
clothing, they first give us a large cup of rum, and after we get 
the taste of it we crave for more, so that in fine all the beaver 
and peltry we have hunted goes for drink, and we are left de- 
stitute either of clothing or ammunition. Therefore, we desire 
our father to order the tap or crane to be shut, and to prohibit 
the selling of rum, for as long as the Christians will sell rum 

lM The Oneidas, the proprietors of that a Schoolcraft' 1 's Notes on the Iroquois, 104, 
country, gave you a settlement then out etc. Gallatin, 82, 83. 
of kindness." — Johnson to Seth, chief of 3 Colonial History, v, 563. 
the Tuscaroras at Oghkivaga. 4 Said to have been chief of an island 

in the Hudson. 



192 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



our people will drink it. We acknowledge that our father 
is very much in the right to tell us that we squander away 
our Indian corn, but one great cause of it is that many of 
our people are obliged to hire land of the Christians at a very 
dear rate, and to give half the corn for rent, and the other half 
they are tempted by rum to sell, and so the corn goes, and the 
poor women and children are left to shift as well as they can." 
And he might have added, that the land which they called their 
own was not unfrequently mortgaged to those who had furnished 
them corn, after defrauding them of that which they had 
produced, and the mortgages very promptly foreclosed.* With- 
out this addition, however, Governor Burnet felt the force of 
the argument of this aboriginal prohibitionist, and took the 
point from his rebuke by remarking, in reply, that they " looked 
better " and were " better clothed " " than the other Indians, 
who do not live among the Christians," and that therefore they 
would do well " to stay among them." No promise did he give, 
however, that he appreciated and would enforce the divine 
command, " Lead us not into temptation," by preventing the 
sale of rum and the consequent plunder by which the Christian 
name was reproached. Commanding them to distribute their 
presents equally between those living above Albany and those 
living below Albany, he dismissed them. 

The New England provinces maintained war with the east- 
ern Indians for some years after peace had been established with 
France. The doctrine that the Indians had no rights which 
Christians were bound to respect, was firmly held by the suc- 
cessors of Underhill and Church, who hesitated not to provoke 
and continue hostilities when peace was within their reach. But 
the war grew tedious as well as disastrous, and the authorities 
there appealed to the Iroquois to take up the hatchet in their 
behalf. 1 The latter made loud protestations of what they would 
do, but contented themselves with hiding the hatchet in their 
bosoms and sending messengers to the Jbenaquis. A year later 
(i 724), the New England commissioners remonstrated with them, 

1 This overture was not to the Five were there entertained with a feast and 

Nations alone, but embraced the Mahl- presents, as was customary in such nego- 

cans and Sckaticooks. Delegates from the tiations. — Niks' History, Massachusetts 

tribes named were invited to Boston, and Historical Collections, v, 347. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



193 



and charged that they had not only laid the hatchet by their 
side, but had accomplished nothing by negotiation. The reply 
was pointed : " The matter of peace rests with you," said their 
speaker ; " whenever you will give up the lands which you have 
wrongfully taken, and restore the hostages which you have 
retained without cause," peace can be secured. They had made 
full inquiry and were satisfied that the eastern Indians were not 
the aggressors, and they knew that should they attempt to force 
them to peace, a general war would ensue. " Though the 
hatchet lies by our side," continued their speaker, " yet the way 
is open between this place and Canada, and trade is free both 
going and coming, and so the way is open between this place 
and Albany and the Six Nations, and if a war should break out 
and we should use the hatchet that lays by our side, those paths 
which are now open would be stopped ; and if we should make 
war it would not end in a few days as yours doth, but it must 
last till one nation or the other is destroyed. We have been 
three times with the eastward Indians and could not prevail, and 
we know what whipping and scourging is from the governor of 
Canada. The eastern Indians seem to be inclined to peace, and 
inasmuch as we have tried three times and could not effect it, 
we would have you try them yourselves." 1 The Iroquois 
were in no humor to attack so formidable a foe as the Abenaquis. 
Their last conflict had been at least a drawn battle, and having 
formed a peace with them as well as with the governor of Canada, 
whose allies they were, they declined, as they did in 1704, to 
reopen a conflict which might involve their own existence. 
The name of Mohawk ! if it once had terror 2 for the fugitive 
Pequot, upon whose head a price was set, had none for those 
who boasted that they received the first kiss of the morning sun — 
the tribute which they paid was not to the Iroquois. 

The record of the years immediately subsequent is but a 
disconnected detail of migrations and reorganizations among the 
Indian tribes. In 1 726, two of the sachems of the Pennacooks, at 
Schaticook, being dead, Governor Burnet appointed Wawiachech 
in their place. Instead of increasing in numbers as they had 

1 Colonial History, v, 723, 725. 2 This is one of the fables of history, 

which is quoted by almost every writer. 



194 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



anticipated, they steadily decreased by desertions to Canada. 
These desertions were explained, by those who remained, as 
being caused by debts which they had incurred and were unable 
to pay, or the payment of which they wished to escape. 1 While 
this explanation was not without some truth, the overtures made 
by the French, and the entreaties of their relatives, were pro- 
bably the predominant impelling motives. Houses, lands, pro- 
tection, and a more complete recognition by the government, 
were temptations that these wanderers, who, like Esau, had 
parted with their birthright for a mess of pottage, could not 
resist. 

Nor were their Mahican neighbors fully satisfied with their 
condition. A considerable number of the better classes among 
them felt keenly the devouring curses to which they were 
exposed by their proximity to the established centre of trade, 
and fled from their devouring touch to the friendly embrace 
of their "grandfathers," the Lenapes, and settled beside the 
Minsis and Shawanoes in the valley of Wyoming at the forks 
of the Susquehanna. 2 Among the first of these emigrants was 
Keeperdo, or Mohekin Abraham, who, in 1730, left his lands 
at the mouth of Wood creek unoccupied. Whether he was the 
founder of the Pennsylvania organization or not does not appear ; 
but the organization itself maintained a separate and recognized 
existence in all the changes of the Lenapes and their confede- 
rates. In those changes Keeperdo shared — accepted, with his 
associates, the reproach of " women," joined in the ceremonies 
of its removal, and, in 1771, was found in the Ohio country. 3 



1 Colonial History, v, 798, 799. 

2 " We reached Skehandowa (April 23, 
1737), where a number of Indians live, — 
Shawanos and Mahicanders." — Memorials 
Moravian Church, 1, 69. 

3 In the Manuscripts of Sir William 
Johnson, in the State Library (vol. 21, 
p. 40), is a letter endorsed : " Letter from 
Ohio concerning land — rec'd it Oct. 1 6th, 
1771." This letter was from Mohekin 
Abraham, who writes : " I understand 
the Mohikans at Stockbridge are wanting 
to sell a certain tract of land lying above 
Albany, from the mouth of Wood creek 
upwards." This sale he requested to have 
stopped as he was the owner, that he was 



well known by many old people about 
Albany, and in conclusion says : " It may 
be reported that I am dead, as it is forty 
years since I left that country." Signed, 
" Mohekin Abraham, or Keeperdo." 
The tract was covered by a patent to 
Philip Skene, and embraced what was 
known as Skenesborough, now White- 
hall, in the present county of Washington. 
Skene located thirty families on it in 1 761 . 
The Mahicans at Stockbridge claimed 
the ownership, but it does not appear that 
the tract was ever paid for. The letter 
of Keeperdo is important as defining more 
clearly the extent of the Mahican country. 



OF HUDSON'S' RIVER. 



195 



As this band retreated towards the west, another appeared 
from the east in the territory of the Mahicans. Gideon 1 Mau- 
wehu, a Pequot chief, originally of some prominence in that 
unfortunate nation, and whose natural abilities were of no 
ordinary stamp, with a few of his followers found a home in 
the present town of Dover, on Ten Mile river, in the county 
of Dutchess. Here he had lived but a short time, when, on 
one of his hunting excursions, he came to the summit of a 
mountain in the present county of Kent, Connecticut. Look- 
ing down from this eminence he saw the Housatonic winding 
through a narrow but fertile valley, shut in by wooded hills. 
Delighted with the scene, he returned to his wigwam, packed 
up his property, and journeyed with his family and followers 
to this new found land of quiet and plenty. From here he 
issued invitations to his old friends and to the Mahicans of the 
Hudson. Immigrants flocked in, and in ten years from the 
time of settlement, it was thought a hundred warriors had 
collected around him. 2 To his village he gave the name of 
Pishgachtigok, which had already been applied to that of the 
fugitive Pennacooks on the Hudson, and which there as well as 
on the Hudson, 3 was corrupted into Schaticook, by which it was 
known to the authorities of Connecticut, who subseauently 
established there a reservation on which the name of Mauwehu 
was represented for five generations. 4 What relation this 
organization sustained to the Mahicans does not appear, although 
the authority of the latter was no doubt recognized, so far as 
recognition was customary under tribal laws. With the authori- 
ties of New York, Mauwehu had no direct connection. 

Almost simultaneously with the appearance of Mauwehu in 
the valley of the Housatonic, the axe of the pioneer was heard 
in its ancient forests. In 1722, Joseph Parsons and others 
purchased from the Mahicans there a tract of land embracing 
territory sufficient for two townships, and prepared to locate a 

1 A name given to him by the Mora- 3 The situations were similar and the 
vian missionary, Mack, by whom he was name, Pisgachtigok, or the confluence 
baptized in 1743. — Latrobes Missions, 11, of two streams, was applied to both. 

43, 44, etc. 4 Eunice, the last of royal line, died on 

2 De Forests History Indians of Connccti- the reservation in i860. 
cut, 407, etc. 



196 



THE INDIAN 7HIBES 



settlement. That which the people of New England then 
regarded as an absolute essential in such enterprises — a reserva- 
tion for the use and support of a minister — was included in their 
charter. Subsequent investigation having proved that the loca- 
tion of a minister among them could be greatly promoted by 
availing themselves of the aid of the Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and that the prospect of 
improving the condition of the Mahicans by direct association 
was better than through the intercourse had with them at the 
forts, where missionaries had been stationed, it was determined 
to make application to that society for a missionary. The 
application was granted, but on condition that the consent of 
the Mahicans should be first obtained. A committee accord- 
ingly visited them at Westenhuck in July, 1734. The relations 
existing between the Mahicans and the Massachusetts govern- 
ment being intimate and friendly — Konapot, the Mahican chief, 
having been commissioned captain, by Governor Belcher, and 
Umpachenee, his subordinate, made a lieutenant, in the colonial 
service — this consent was readily obtained. In September fol- 
lowing, the Rev. John Sergeant was appointed to the mission 
and entered upon its duties in October. In 1735, the mission 
was definitely located on the W-nahk-ta-kook, or the Great 
Meadow, the great council chamber of the nation, where a 
township six miles square was laid out by the legislature as a 
reservation under the name of Stockbridge, by which name the 
Mahicans who were then located there, as well as those. who 
subsequently removed thither, were known to the authorities of 
Massachusetts and New York. 1 

Following closely upon the establishment of the Stockbridge 
mission, the Moravians began their labors in the Mahican coun- 
try. With a zeal remarkable for its voluntarily assumed sacri- 
fices, and more pure than that which characterized the labors of 
other organizations, because without political interests to serve, 
they had pushed their way into the territory of the Creeks and 

1 Stockbridge, Pent and Present. Twenty in his labors, by a young Mahican, John 

miles distant, at a village called Kau- Wauwaumpequnnaunt, and met with so 

naumeek, David Brainerd, a licentiate much success that he was enabled to induce 

acting under similar authority, esta- his people to remove to Stockbridge. 
blished a mission in 1743. He was aided 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



197 



Cherokees of Georgia, in 1735. Driven thence by the political 
troubles with the Spaniards, they established a colony at Bethle- 
hem, on the Delaware, and, in 1740, founded a mission in the 
present county of Dutchess. The pioneer in the latter field was 
Christian Henry Rauch, who arrived in New York, in July of 
that year, seeking missionary labor, and where he soon after met 
a company of Mahicans who were there to renew their covenant 
with the government. Ascertaining that he could converse with 
them in the Dutch language, he visited them repeatedly at their 
encampment, but found them almost invariably in a state of 
beastly intoxication on the liquor which the government had 
given them, ferocious in appearance and but little disposed to 
extend the encouragement which he sought. Finding them 
sober at last, he addressed two of their chiefs, Tschoop and Sha- 
bash, and obtained their consent to accompany them to their 
village as a teacher. Led by them he reached Shekomeko, in the 
district now known as Pine plains, on the 16th of August, and 
immediately commenced a work which was not without en- 
couraging reward. Tschoop, 1 known as " the greatest drunkard 
among his followers," was converted ; Schabash joined him soon 
after. At the end of two years thirty-one baptized Indians 
attended his ministrations, " all of the Mahikander tribe/' and 
in 1743, the number had reached sixty-three. 

Rauch's labors were not confined to Shekomeko alone. At 
Pisgachtigok, Mauwehu and his brother were among his con- 
verts, while at Wechquadnach, 2 or Pachquadnach, Totatik, 3 
Westenhuck, and Wehtak, 4 he was not without sincere followers. 
At Shekomeko, Wechquadnach and Pisgachtigok, mission 

1 Schweinitz, in his Life and Times of Loskiel, n, 93, 94. Schabash received in 

David Zeisberger, says the name of this baptism the name of Abraham. He was 

chief was Wasarnapah ; his English name subsequently elected chief or king of the 

prior to his baptism, Job 5 and the name Mahicans on the Delaware, and died at 

he received in baptism, John ; that he Wyoming in December, 1762. — Memo- 

never bore the name of Tschoop among rials Moravian Church, 1, 147. 

his people, but that it originated among 2 Now North-east Centre, Connecticut, 

the Moravians in consequence of their The name is preserved in Wachquadnach 

German mode of pronouncing Job. Wa- lake or Indian pond, 

sarnapah was the ruling chief at Sheko- 3 On the east side of the Housatonic 

meko. He was a man of remarkable opposite the mouth of Poughtatuck creek, 

powers of mind, and in whose mien " was 4 Or Wyatiack, near Salisbury, Litch- 

the majesty of a Luther." He died of field Co., Conn, 
small pox at Bethlehem, Aug. 27, 1746. 



198 



THE INDIJN TRIBES 



houses were established, the success at the latter being greater 
than that at Shekomeko. In this field Rauch, Gotleib, Butt- 
ner and Samuel Mack labored for twenty years, and until driven 
out by persecutions which their success provoked. In the war 
of 1755, they were accused of being emissaries of the French ; 
subsequently they were arrested under the law of 1700, forbid- 
ding the presence of priests in the province without a license from 
the government ; the traders, whose traffic in rum was mate- 
rially abridged by their teachings, lost no opportunity to misre- 
present them and accuse them falsely ; finally, they were ejected 
from the lands at Shekomeko under a claim that they belonged 
to the white people and not to the Indians. After a temporary 
rest at Wechquadnach and Pisgachtigok, they removed, with 
many of their followers, to Pennsylvania, where they formed a 
colony to which they gave the name of Freidenshutten, (tents 
of peace). Their stay here was short. Gnadenhutten (tents 
of grace) received them for a time, and from thence they shared 
the roving fortunes of the Moravians, followed in all their wander- 
ings by their faithful Mahican converts. 1 

Meanwhile the commissioners of the society in Scotland for 
Propagating the Gospel had entered upon the work of diffusing 
Christian knowledge among the Indians, and had commissioned 
the Rev. David Brainerd to labor among the Delawares. 
Having transferred his mission among the Mahicans to the Rev. 
Mr. Sergeant, Brainerd visited the Delaware country in the 
spring of 1744. At Minnisink he encountered the opposition 
of the Indians, 2 but established himself at the Forks of the Dela- 



1 Heckeiv elders Narrative; Life and 
Times of David Zeisberger ; LoskiePs His- 
tory of the Mission of the United Brethren • 
Memorials of the Moravian Church ; The 
Moravians in Neiv York and Connecticut ; 
Documentary History of Neiv York; Stone's 
Life of Brant, etc. 

2 "I then set out on my journey toward 
Delaware} and on May ioth, (1744), 
met with a number of Indians in a place 
called Minnissinks, about a hundred and 
forty miles from Kaunaumeek (the place 
where I spent the last year), and directly 
in my way to Delaware river. With 
these Indians I spent sometime, and first 
addressed their king in a friendly manner, 



and after some discourse, and attempts to 
contract a friendship with him, I told 
him I had a desire (for his benefit and 
happiness) to instruct them in Christianity. 
At which he laughed and turned his 
back upon me and went away. I then 
addressed another principal man in the 
same manner, who said he v/as willing to 
hear me. After some time, I followed 
the king into his house, and renewed 
my discourse to him : but he declined 
talking, and left the affair to another, 
who appeared to be a rational man. He 
began and talked very warmly near a 
quarter of an hour together; he enquired 
why I desired the Indians to become 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



199 



ware, at which place, and at Crossweeksung, " in New Jersey, 
towards the sea," he met with considerable success. 1 His 
brother, John Brainerd > about the same time, established a 
mission at Bethel, New Jersey, where he drew together a per- 
manent congregation. 

But the changes of this period were not confined to the 
Mahicans and Lenapes. It is said that in 1748, a band of 
fugitive Nanticokes, under their chief sachem, White, put them- 
selves under the protection of the Six Nations at Conestoga 
on the Delaware. 2 If the Moravian missionaries were correctly 
informed, their presence was a source of weakness rather than 
of strength to their allies. Loskiel states that they "instructed 
the Delawares and Iroquois in preparing a peculiar kind of 
poison," which was capable of infecting whole townships and 
tribes with "disorders as pernicious as the plague," and that they 
" nearly destroyed their own nation by it." Their history, 
until their final disappearance in the west, was not particularly 
distinguished, perhaps for the reason stated by Loskiel. 

A more important acquisition — at least temporarily — by the 
Iroquois at this time, was that of the Mississagies as the seventh 
nation of the confederacy. The Mississagies were a northern 
Alqonquin nation whose place of residence was on the waters of 

Christians, seeing the Christians were so come and see them again. He replied, 
much worse than the Indians. It was he should be willing to see me again, as a 
they first taught the Indians to be drunk, friend, if I would not desire them to 
and they stole from one another, to that become Christians. I then bid them fare- 
degree, that their rulers were obliged to well, and prosecuted my journey towards 
hang them for it, and that was not suffi- Delaware." — Brainerd's Mission. 
cient to deter others from the like prac- 1 He died in 1747, of consumption, a 
tice. But the Indians, he added, were martyr to the work which he had un- 
none or them ever hanged for stealing, dertaken. 

and yet they did not steal half so much 5 2 The Nanticokes, or tide water peo- 

and he supposed that if the Indians should pie, had their seats, when the Eu- 

become Christians, they would then be as ropeans first met them, on the eastern 

bad as those, and hereupon he said, they shore of Maryland. At the lime of the 

would live as their fathers lived, and go removal referred to in the text they were 

where their fathers were when they died, not considerable in numbers. Gallatin 

I then freely owned, lamented, and joined says they were the allies of the Six 

with him in condemning the ill conduct Nations. Their lands in Maryland were 

of some who are called Christians 5 told sold, through the agency of Sir William 

him these were not Christians at heart, Johnson, in 1760, and the money paid to 

that I hated such wicked practices, and the chiefs. — Colonial History, vin, 117. 

did not desire the Indians to become such They were repeatedly represented in the 

as these, and when he appeared calmer, conferences with the Delawares and the 

I asked him if he was willing that I should Shawanoes. 



200 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



a river which enters the north shores of Lake Huron, between 
Point Tessalon and La Cloche. In pushing the policy which 
the government of New York had established, of promoting 
trade by securing the alliance of Indian tribes with the Six Na- 
tions, the latter had been induced to open negotiations with 
many of their former enemies. 1 As one of the fruits of this 
policy, the Necariages, a. remnant of the once powerful Hurons, 
or Wyandots, had been induced to visit Albany, in 1723, and to 
ask to be received as the seventh nation. The commissioners of 
Indian affairs accepted them as such, 2 but the confederates never 
acknowledged them. When the Mississagies tendered a similar 
alliance, however, they were received by the confederates, and at 
a conference, held at Albany on the 23d of August, 1746, were 
publicly acknowledged by them as the seventh nation. 3 The al- 
liance did not long continue. When the war of 1755 broke out, it 
was found that the Six Nations were at war with their new allies. 

A more permanent acquisition was that of the Ochtayhquana- 
wicroonsj a Tuscarora clan, 5 who appeared on the Susquehanna 
river, in the present county of Broome, in 1722, and around whom 
subsequently gathered several Mahican families who had previ- 
ously found homes with the Mohawks, but who had become " dis- 
satisfied with the ruling politics 6 of that tribe ; " Skaniadaradigb- 



1 In 1740, George Clark, then acting 
as governor, secured the assent of the 
Six Nations to the proposition to " take 
into the covenant chain all the nations 
of Indians lying to the westward and 
southward as far as the Mississippi," as 
the "most likely way to establish an uni- 
versal peace among all the Indians and 
to make it lasting." 

2 Colonial History, v, 695. Schoolcraft 
classes the Necariages as the seventh 
nation, but admits that they were never 
so received. The fact appears to be that 
no nation was ever received into the con- 
federate compact 5 even the Tuscaroras 
had no such relation. In all their na- 
tional action but five tribes were repre- 
sented. 

3 " We, the Six Nations, are now assem- 
bled together as one man, and we take 
in the Mississagies as the Seventh Nation ; 
and what is now spoken by one mouth, 
are the joint and sincere thoughts of 



every heart." — Colonial History , vi, 321. 
The Mississagies numbered at that time 
eight hundred warriors. They were at 
treaty conference for the last time in 
1755. — Colonial History, vn, 259. 

4 Colonial History, v, 675. They were 
subsequently called the Onoghquageys, 
Oghquagas, Aughquages, Ochquaquas, 
Onenhoghkwages, Auquaguas, Onehoh- 
quages, etc. — Index Colonial History ; Pro- 
ceedings of the Provincial Convention of 
Neiv York, 11, 340, 419, 423, etc. 

6 Dr. O'Callaghan says they were chiefly 
Mohawks (note, Colonial History, v, 675), 
but a different conclusion is clearly dedu- 
cible from the conference minutes of Feb. 
2, 1756, in which the name "Augh- 
quages, as distinguishing the original or- 
ganization, is immediately followed by 
that of Tuscaroras in brackets. — Colonial 
History, vn, 51. It is quite probable there 
were Mohawks residing among them. 

6 Colonial History, vn, 278. " A party 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



201 



roonas, from Maryland, 1 a portion of the Chugnuts, 2 a Susque- 
hanna family, and several clans of the Minsis or Esopus Indians 
living upon the east branch of the Delaware river ; 3 They were 
not without favorable record in the wars of 1745 and 1755, 4 
but derive their historic interest mainly from the distinguished 
services of their chief, Thomas King, 5 and from the fact that 
through them the history of the Esopus clans is linked with the 
war of the Revolution. 6 

At a later period, and apparently about 1746, the Oneidas 
sent off a colony from their principal castle, to a" point about 
twelve miles from Oneida lake, where they established a settle- 
ment which they called Canowaroghere or Onawaraghharee, 7 and 
which was subsequently recognized as u the second Oneida 
castle." Several families of the Long island clans, dispossessed 
of their lands and surrounded by European settlers, were subse- 
quently added to the colony, 8 giving to it influence in point of 
numbers. 

iVIeanwhile the Esopus clans who had not followed the for- 
tunes of their kindred, the Minsis, maintained their succession of 
sachems and held annual conferences with the justices at Kings- 
ton. 9 Thither came Ankerop, chief sachem, in 1722, and 
complained that a " white man had offered violence to an Indian 

of Aughquages and Mahicanders under 4 " I assure your excellency I never saw- 
Thomas, an Aughquage chief. — Ibid, a people better inclined to assist us than 
187. The Mahicans here spoken of were they are." — Colonial History, vi, 361. 
entirely distinct from those who settled at 5 This chief was actively employed as 
an early period among the Lempes, or the principal deputy of the Five Nations 
those who were subsequently located at in the treaties with the Lenapes and Sha- 
Otsiningo. — Ibid., 104. wanoes. He died at Charleston, South 
Colonial History, vi, 983. Supposed Carolina, after attending the congress of 
to be a remnant of the Powhattan con- Indian nations at Scioto, in 1771. John- 
federacy, who were removed under the son speaks of him as a man of " superior 
treaty with Virginia in 1722, and called capacity and fidelity." — Colonial History, 
by Gallatin Sachdagughroonas. The date vm, 290, 300, etc. 

of their settlement at the north corre- 6 Proceedings of the Provincial Conven- 

sponds with that of the treaty with Vir- tion of Neiu York, 1, 339, 808; ii, 340, 

ginia. — Gallatin, 58, 59. 419, 423, etc. 

2 Their village was on the south bank 7 Colonial History, vn, 512, 611, etc. 
of the Susquehanna, opposite Bingham- 8 lb., vm, 476. 

ton. 9 The records of these conferences are 

3 " The Delaware Indians, who live on scattered, some being found at Kingston, 
the east branch of the Delaware river, others in the Clinton and Johnson papers 
near the head of it, have given us the in the State Library, and others in the 
strongest assurances that they will live office of the secretary of state. 

and die with us." — Colonial History, vn, 
50. 



202 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



whom he had met carrying rum," and the justices promised the 
punishment of the offender. The justices, on their part, charged 
that the Indians " had hired negroes to fight against the Christ- 
ians," which the sachem denied. Not a conference passed 
without a claim for lands taken from the Indians without com- 
pensation, many of them entirely unfounded, according to the 
English interpretation of boundaries, but doubtless well founded 
in the absolute knowledge of the claimants, who, in their sales, 
had designated hills and not intervening valleys. The principal 
purpose of the conferences, however, appears to have been to 
dismiss the Indians with assurances of friendship, a few blankets 
and considerable rum. If they rapidly became a " contemptible 
people," it was in consequence of the influences by which they 
were surrounded. In their wanderings a few of them came un- 
der the teachings of the Moravians, and united with the Mahican 
converts in Pennsylvania, but to them as an organization no 
missionary work was undertaken. The people of Kingston 
cared little for their own improvement, much less for that of the 
Indians, and preferred rather to earn for themselves the sobri- 
quet of " the Sodom of New York," 1 than to perform those 
acts of charity and mercy which spring from a proper apprecia- 
tion of the Christian character. Had they followed the exter- 
minating policy of the Puritans it would have been more to their 
credit. 

The Wappingers, too, maintained an organization on the 
Hudson amid all the changes which surrounded and attended 
them. Many of them had been drawn off to new homes ; a 
few appeared among the Moravians and at Stockbridge, but the 
seat of the tribe remained in the highlands. 2 Nimham, who 
was made chief sachem in 1740, gave them prominence by ser- 
vice in the field and by his persistent efforts to recover lands of 
which they had been defrauded. 

The result of these and other changes was, that at the close 
of the half century the Lenapes had an active, vigorous organ- 
ization of five tribes ; the Iroquois,* one of seven tribes, and the 

1 Memorials of the Moravian Church, sions with the addition of the Shaivanoes 

i, 58. and Mahicans. There were also several 

* Colonial History, vii, 869. detached clans of minor importance asso- 

3 Including the original Lenape divi- ciated with them. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



203 



Mahicans, although divided by provincial lines, one that could 
still call its followers from Quebec to Manhattan. Although 
the changes which had produced these new combinations were 
in a great degree the result alike of the selfish efforts of the 
European nations who were contesting the supremacy of the 
continent, and of the pressure of an incoming civilization, they 
were not less the work of aboriginal diplomats who had pur- 
poses of their own to serve. The lessons which Philip had 
taught his people and his allies were deeply impressed. Fugi- 
tives from the fields on which he had met disaster, bore them to 
congenial soil among the Lenapes and Shawanoes ; to the north, 
among the Abenaquis, sharpening their desire for revenges which 
were unatoned ; on the prairies of the west and amid the wilder- 
nesses of Canada, they were the theme of thought and prepara- 
tion. The English saw the gathering storm and sought shelter 
behind their allies, the Iroquois ; the French welded its gathering 
folds, and bade the avengers onward. 

The war of 1744, while without positive results to the prin- 
cipal contestants, was the turning point in the supremacy of the 
Iroquois, as well as in the ardor of their attachment to the Eng- 
lish. At the opening of the war a conference was held with 
them at Albany, in which Governor Clinton informed them of the 
condition of affairs, and asked their cooperation in promoting the 
mutual safety and defense of the English and themselves, " and 
the annoyance of the common enemy." The chiefs hesitated. 
" We cannot answer to every particular concerning the war," 
said they, " but do promise that we will keep all our people at 
home and there await orders. We are inclined to peace, till 
the enemy attack some of his majesty's subjects, and then we 
willjoin together to defend ourselves against them. 1 

The conference with them in October of the following year 
was not more successful. The chiefs thanked the governor 
for the information which he had given them concerning the 
war, but the hatchet which they accepted they would keep in 
their bosoms. " We are," said they, " in alliance with a great 
many nations, and if we should suddenly lift the hatchet with- 
out acquainting them, they would perhaps take offense at it. 

1 Colonial History, vi, 265. 



204 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



We will, therefore, before we make use of the hatchet, send 
four of our people to Canada, to demand satisfaction for the 
wrongs they have done, and if they refuse, then we shall be 
ready." 

In a word, they had determined to remain neutral, and to 
that end had had consultation with their allies as well as with 
the French. The general character of these consultations may 
be inferred from that which they held with the Mahicans at 
Stockbridge, in 1744, when, Mr. Sergeant states, the embassa- 
dors were met in the most cordial manner. " Uncle," said the 
Mahican chief, " I ask you a question. I hear you have agreed 
with the French Mohawks to sit still, in case of war between 
their friends and ours. You well know how that matter is. I 
desire you to tell me what we are to do in that affair. If you 
say we must sit still, we will sit still. If we are to see those 
Indians help their friends, we must help ours." " Cousin," 
replied the Mohawk, " the information you have received of our 
engaging with the French Mohawks to stand neuter in case of 
war between the French and English, is very true. Those 
Indians have promised us that they would not meddle with the 
war, but sit still in peace, and let the white people determine 
the dispute themselves. We have promised them the same, 
and desire you to join with us in the same peaceable disposition." 

Neutrality was maintained until 1746, when the French and 
their Indians became the aggressors. Meanwhile the New 
England authorities had erected a chain of stockades and block- 
houses along the frontier from Maine to the Connecticut river, 
and from thence across the Hoosic mountains to the territory 
of New York. Upon the Hoosic river, within the bounds of 
what is now the town of Adams, one of these blockhouses, 
known as Fort Massachusetts, was attacked in August, 1746, 
by a force under Vaudreuil, consisting of French troops and 
Indians numbering nine hundred and sixty-five men. The fort 
had but eleven effective defenders, who were compelled to sur- 
render after a few hours' active resistance. The significance 
of this result was not in the loss of the fort, but in the fact that 
the enemy had crossed the Westenhuck and invaded neutral 
territory. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



205 



At the time of this occurrence a conference was being held 
at Albany, with the Six Nations, who as yet had given no evi- 
dence of intention to lift the hatchet. Governor Clinton had 
exhausted persuasive appeal; had told them that the king 
expected and ordered them to join with their whole force in the 
contest, thereby giving them " a glorious opportunity of establish- 
ing their fame and renown over all the Indian nations in America,' 
by the conquest of their "inveterate enemies, the French," who, 
however much they might " dissemble and profess friendship," 
would never forget the slaughter which the Five Nations had 
inflicted upon them in former years, and who, for the purpose 
of their destruction, were " caressing the nations" who had 
been their " most inhuman enemies," and who desired " nothing 
so much as to see the name of the Six Nations become decayed 
and forgot forever." The issue, as it was understood by the 
French and the Indians, was fairly stated, but it awoke no 
response. 

When the news came that Hoosic had been attacked, the 
aspect of affairs was immediately changed. Three days after 
the governor's last appeal (August 23d), the chiefs replied : 
"Last year you gave us the hatchet to be made use of against 
your enemies. We accepted it and promised to make use of 
it if they should commit further hostilities, which they have now 
done by destroying Saraghtoga 1 and shedding a great deal of 
blood. Hitherto we have made no use of the hatchet, but as 
you now call upon us we are ready, and do declare, from the 
bottom of our hearts, that we will from this day make use of it 
against the French and their children." To this determination 
the Mahicans and the Schaticooks gave their assent. 

But nothing more than a petty warfare followed. In New 
England the English suffered some disasters, but in New York 
they escaped, with the exception of an engagement near Sche- 
nectady, July 2 1 st, 1748, the account of which is much con- 
fused, and the destruction, about the same time, of the residence 
of Mr. Keith, near Schaticook, and the slaughter of several of 
the members of his family, by a company of St. Francis In- 

1 A settlement on the Hudson in the lerville, from which the present name of 
vicinity of the present village of Schuy- Saratoga is derived. 



206 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



dians. 1 On the part of the English, the Mohawks and Mahicdns 
appear to have taken the field in some numbers, and to have 
lost warriors by death and captivity. At the Cedars they made 
a successful attack in the summer of 1747, but at the Cascades 
they were defeated with loss. 

Pending formidable aggressive movements against the French, 
the war was closed by the treaty of peace at Aix la Chapelle. 
The news of the conclusion of this treaty reached Governor 
Clinton on the eve of the assemblage at Albany of a grand con- 
ference, with the Six Nations and their allies. Great effort had 
been made for the success of this conference, and in point of 
numbers these efforts were rewarded. If the Six Nations 
could do nothing else, they could always rally a host at a dis- 
tribution of presents ; the flow of rum was an attraction which 
they could not resist. Albany never saw such a gathering of 
painted warriors ; a larger number never, perhaps, assembled 
in one place, or one in which there were more tribes represented. 
The enmities of years seemed to be forgotten ; Mahicans 
and Minsis joined hands with the Senecas ; the descendants of 
Miantonimo smoked the pipe with the Mississagies. Except 
in numbers, however, the conference was a failure. The 
" covenant chain " was brightened in ancient form, but instead 
of the command, " Onto Canada ! " which Clinton had expected 
to issue, " Peace ! " was the injunction which fell upon the ears 
of the assembled chiefs. 

The Mohawks, and Mahicans, the representative tribes ad- 
dressed, were disappointed. While the other tribes in the English 
alliance had, with the exception of a few of their warriors, ab- 
stained from hostilities, they were seriously compromised. They 
had lost friends whose deaths were unavenged ; the axe of the 
French was sticking in the heads of their people ; in Canada 
prisons their brethren were rotting in irons ; they had taken up 
the hatchet with reluctance, and would not lav it down until 
their friends were released and a definite proposal made guaran- 
teeing their protection in the future. "We will still keep the 
hatchet in our hands," said the former ; "we will still keepour hands 
on the cocks of our guns," said the latter. With them the question 

1 Stone's Life and Times of Sir William Johnson^ i, 350, 354. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



207 



of peace remained an open one until the exchange of prisoners 
was completed in June, 1750. 1 For two or three years later 
the Mohawks carried the hatchet in their hands, the English 
having neglected to call them together and remove it by a dis- 
tribution of presents, a custom for which they had a most tena- 
cious regard. 

In the meantime, five tribes of the confederacy made peace 
with the French, asserting thereby not only their national in- 
dependence but subscribing their totems to the declaration 
" that they had not ceded to any one, their lands that they 
"were not subjects of England." 2 To the French this was 
an important declaration. If the nations represented claimed 
independence, then could treaties be made with them and the 
foundation of territorial lines established ; but if already under 
allegiance to Great Britain, the question of boundaries was still 
an open one. The Mohawks alone took their rank with the 
English ; the practical division of the confederacy, upon a very 
vital point, was established, and a new element added to the 
controversy which had so long existed between the Indian na- 
tions and the English. 

1 Colonial History, x, 21 1. 1 Colonial History, x, 187. 



208 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



CHAPTER IX. 

The War of 1755 — Rehabilitation of the Lenapes 
and shawanoes the conspiracy of pontiac. 

HE treaty of Aix la Chapelle was a very imperfect 
paper. By its stipulations " all Nova Scotia, or 
Acadia, with its dependencies," was ceded to 
Great Britain ; the " subjects of France, inhabit- 
ants of Canada," were not to " disturb or molest in any man- 
ner whatever," the Five Indian Nations which were " subject to 
Great Britain," nor the " other American allies" of that govern- 
ment ; the boundaries between the English and French posses- 
sions, along the rivers St. Lawrence and Mississippi, and the 
limits even of Nova Scotia, one of the original causes of the 
war, were left entirely undetermined, and no provision was 
made for the removal of the forts which the French had erected 
at Crown point, or Lake Champlain, and at Niagara. The 
key to its interpretation, if such it had, was the status of the 
" Five Indian Nations" claimed as " subjects to Great Britain." 
If the nations referred to were not " subjects to Great Britain," 
then were the prohibitions of the treaty void, so far as they 
circumscribed the operations of the French or defined the 
boundaries of their possessions. Availing themselves of this 
interpretation, the French forstalled the English by securing 
from the Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, and Oneidas, the declara- 
tion already quoted that they were independent tribes, and re- 
sumed the prosecution of the policy, which they had inaugurated 
as early as 1731, of connecting the St. Lawrence with the gulf 
of Mexico by a chain of forts along that river to Detroit and 
down the Ohio to the Mississippi. While the English were 
disputing with them in regard to the Nova Scotia peninsula, La 
Galissoniere was sent out, in 1749, with three hundred men to 
trace and occupy the Ohio valley, and faithfully did he perform 
his work. At the mouth of every principal river plates of lead 




OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



209 



were deposited in the soil bearing the inscription, that, from 
the farthest ridge whence water trickled towards the Ohio, the 
country belonged to France, and the lilies of the Bourbons 
were nailed to forest trees in token of possession. 1 

The determination of the French reopened the original con- 
troversy. The establishment of the contemplated forts was 
fraught with danger to the English colonies. Not only would 
they cut off the western Indian trade, but would build up a 
power behind the English settlements which would be to them 
a perpetual menace, even if it did not involve their very exist- 
ence as subjects of Great Britain. Self-interest as well as self- 
defense demanded that their construction should be anticipated 
if possible — if not, that their occupation by the French should 
be resisted. The colonies were themselves divided in regard to 
the jurisdiction to which they were respectively entitled by their 
charters ; but, without waiting for the determination of the dis- 
pute, Virginia organized what was known as the Ohio com- 
pany, for the ostensible purpose of securing the Ohio valley 
for the English world. Obtaining a patent in March, 1749, 
for five hundred thousand acres, this company sent out, in Oc- 
tober, 1750, Christopher Gist to make treaties with the Indians 
and select locations for colonies, while Pennsylvania, for a 
similar purpose, dispatched George Croghan. At Logstown, 
these agents met and together prosecuted surveys, and consum- 
mated treaties, covering a broad expanse of territory, resting 
from their labors finally in the heart of the territory of the 
Miamts. 

The Senecas, the Lenapes, and the Sbawanoes, whose territory 
was thus invaded by the rival civilizations of Europe, at first 
received their visitors approvingly ; but at length comprehending 
that they were to be the ultimate sufferers, remonstrated. 
" Where," said Tanadiarisson, the Half-King-, as the ruling 
Seneca chief was called ; " where lie the lands of the Indians ? 
The French claim all on one side of the river, and the English 
all on the other ; " and, repairing to the French commandant at 
Erie, he declared that it was the wish of his people that both 
parties should withdraw. Met with open refusal, he returned 

1 Bancroft , iv, 43 etc. j Life and Times of Sir Wm. Jobnson, 1, 386, etc. 



210 



7HE INDIAN TRIBES 



to his council, and added to the pending conflict a third party in 
interest — the aboriginal proprietors who were resolved to defeat 
the purposes of their European neighbors in such manner as 
opportunity should develop. 

Strong in all the resources of civil and military centralization, 
the government of Canada moved with a resolution and celerity 
that for a time set at defiance the efforts of their slow-footed 
and divided adversaries. By the end of 1753, they had a con- 
nected line of forts, extending from Montreal to what is now 
called French creek, in Pennsylvania, but to which they gave 
the name of the Riviere aux Boeufs. 1 To this latter fort, 
Virginia sent, in December, Major George Washington, to 
demand the reason " for invading the British possessions in time 
of peace," and to warn the trespassers to retire. Civilly was 
he treated ; the answer which he received was not unexpected. 
The French commandant knew no law but the orders of his 
general ; to those orders he should " conform with exactness 
and resolution." The casus belli which Virginia sought was 
supplied. 

Promptly voting <£ 10,000, Virginia dispatched, in May, a 
force of one hundred and fifty men, under Washington, to the 
invaded territory, instructed " to make prisoners, kill or destroy 
all who interrupted the English settlements." Not a moment 
too soon did he reach the field. The French, sweeping down 
from Venango, had compelled the English to evacuate the trad- 
ing post which they had established at the Fork, 2 and had occu- 
pied the place with fortifications. Warned by the Half-King, 
Washington hurried to the Great Meadows, where he held a 
conference with the friendly Lenape and Seneca chiefs. Before 
the rising sun of another day the French were attacked in 
ambush. An action of about a quarter of an hour ensued ; 
ten of the French force were killed, including Jumonville, their 
commander, and twenty-one wounded, 3 Bearing tidings of the 

1 On account of the number of Buffalo other to the west. Hence the name, 
found in its vicinity. — Sparks 's Washing- the Fork. 

ton y 11, 436. 8 Washington was severely criticised for 

2 Now the city of Pittsburg, Pa. It this attack, and was charged with the 
was here that the Indian path separated, murder of Jumonville. — Memoirs Hist. 
one leading to the Seneca country and the Soc. Penn., v, 45, etc. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



211 



disaster, a soldier reached the headquarters of the French com- 
mandant ; a council of war was instantly assembled ; its deli- 
berations almost as instantly resulted in sending out an over- 
whelming force to meet and crush the advancing English. 
Washington fell back to the Great Meadows, where he threw 
up the breastworks of Fort Necessity and manned its feeble 
ramparts. But resistance was hopeless. Without supplies of 
ammunition or of food, capitulation was a necessity. Accept- 
ing permission to retire with his forces, Washington turned his 
face homeward. On the morning of the fourth of July, 1754, 
the French flag waved in triumph in the valley of the Ohio. 

Not alone in the celerity of their movements had the French 
anticipated the English. With a zeal as remarkable as it was con- 
tagious among the Indians, they had pushed the alliances and 
strengthened the tribes immediately dependent upon them to an 
extent which had transferred to them the active power which 
had formerly been exercised by the Five Nations, when, armed 
by the English, they had first been commissioned a roving police 
over their contemporary tribes. In this respect the change had 
been wonderful indeed since the confederates rallied in the war of 
1688. The liberality of the French had removed much of the 
ancient prejudice against them ; the labors of the priests had 
won converts until in Canada the Iroquois were represented by 
as many organizations as they were in New York, who com- 
pletely neutralized the action of the parent stocks ; the Mississa- 
gies, the seventh tribe of the confederacy, had dropped from 
their ranks ; the Senecas were estranged, and at Onondaga the 
council fire of the nation was constantly attended by the emis- 
saries of France. As early as 1720, they began to appear in 
the character of mediators, rather than that of aggressive allies, 
and in 1745, they had with great difficulty indeed been brought 
out in even inconsiderable force in behalf of the English. 

Perhaps this result was due in a great measure to the policy 
of the English in seeking through their alliances the promotion 
of trade ; in neglecting to supply them with priests as self- 
sacrificing as were those sent out by France ; in supplying the 
more immediate tribes with intoxicating liquors to their destruc- 
tion, and in failing to cultivate the intimate relations with them 



212 



2 HE INDIAN TRIBES 



which formed so conspicuous a feature of the policy of the 
French. Whatever the cause, the French experienced little 
difficulty in transferring to themselves the moral support of the 
Senecas, and in securing the active alliance of the Lenapes and 
Shawanoes, as well as of the more western tribes, and to direct 
their blows for the possession of the Ohio valley against the 
English as their worst enemies. 

For their negative rather than their positive power, continued 
alliance with the confederates was desirable to the English. 
As enemies, they would be dangerous from their familiarity with 
the English settlements ; as allies, they would still interpose a 
barrier to the incursions of their relatives in the Canada alliance. 
Their threats 1 intimidated Clinton ; the rapidity with which events 
were culminating in hostilities, aroused the reluctant assembly ; 
the funds necessary to provide presents for a renewal of the 
ancient alliance with them was voted, and Colonel Johnson 
dispatched to their castles to invite their attendance at a confer- 
ence at Albany. The Mohawks responded sullenly : " Had 
any other person been sent, we would not move a foot ; " at 
Onondaga, the king declared he did not understand what the 
French and English intended to do in reference to the Ohio 
country, but for his people he could say, that they were already 
" so hemmed in by both, that hardly a hunting place was left, 
so that even if they should find a bear in a tree, there would 
immediately appear an owner of the land to challenge the pro- 
perty." 

The conference at Albany was appointed for the fourteenth 
of June, 1754, and was to be held in conjunction with a con- 
vention of delegates from the several colonies, called to consider a 
plan for a general union for mutual protection. The attendance 
was not large ; the colonies were not fully represented ; the con- 
federates were still halting between two opinions. The proceed- 
ings were opened with an address by acting governor De Lancey, 
in which the tribes were invited to " renew, and strengthen their 
ancient covenant " with the English, and to rail back the clans 
who had removed to the territory of the French. " The 
French," said he, " profess to be in perfect friendship with us 

1 The Life and Times of Sir William Johnson^ i, 422. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



213 



as we!! as with you. Notwithstanding this they are making 
continual encroachments upon us both. They have lately done 
so in the most insulting manner, both to the northward and 
westward. They are endeavoring to possess themselves of the 
whole country, although they have made express treaties with 
the English to the contrary. It appears to us that their mea- 
sures must necessarily soon interrupt and destroy all trade and 
intercourse between the English and the several Indian nations 
on the continent, and will block up and obstruct the great roads, 
which have hitherto been kept open, between you and your allies 
and friends who live at a distance. We want, therefore, to 
know whether these things appear to you in the same light as 
they do to us, or whether the French, taking possession of the 
lands in your country, and building forts between the lake Erie 
and the Ohio, be done with your consent or approbation. " 

Hendrik accepted the belt, and replied that it should be taken 
to Onondaga for consultation. The confederates had been 
shamefully treated by their allies, while the French had used 
their utmost endeavors to bring them over in their favor. 
" This," said he, " is the ancient place of treaty, where the fire 
of friendship always used to burn ; and 'tis now three years 
since we have been called to any public treaty here. 'Tis true 
there are commissioners here, but they have never invited us to 
smoke with them. But the Indians of Canada come frequently 
and smoke here, which is for the sake of their beaver. But we 
hate them. We have not yet confirmed the peace with them. 
'Tis your fault, brethren, that we are not strengthened by con- 
quest ; for we would have gone and taken Crown point, but 
you hindered us. We had concluded to go and take it, but we 
were told that it was too late and that the ice would not bear 
us. Instead of this, you burnt your own fort at Saratoga, and 
run away from it, which was a shame and a scandal to you. 
Look about your country, and see, you have no fortifications 
about you ; no, not even to this city. Look at the French ; 
they are men ; they are fortifying everywhere. But, we are 
ashamed to say it, you are all like women, bare and open with- 
out any fortifications." 1 

1 Colonial History , vi, 870 ; Life and Times of Sir JVtn. Johnson, 1, 456, etc. 



214 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



The Mahicam who acknowledged the jurisdiction of the au- 
thorities of New York, as well as those living under the go- 
vernment of Massachusetts, were present, and also the Schaticooks. 
The latter, replying to the governor, said : " Your honor may 
see that we are young and inexperienced, our ancient people 
being almost all dead, so that we have nobody to give us advice, 
but we will do as our fathers have done before us." The re- 
ception of the Mahicans from Stockbridge was delayed, the 
governor regarding them as belonging to Massachusetts. The 
records of the Indian commissioners were examined, and the 
fact made apparent that while under the territorial jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, they were not the less the representatives of 
the Mahican nation ; that they had always been present at the 
treaties with the Five Nations, and had been included therein. 1 
Their address was historical and forcible. Their fathers had 
first welcomed the Europeans and given them lands ; had 
formed with them a covenant chain which had never been 
broken. That chain they would now renew, rub bright and 
defend its links. 2 

The conference closed on the eighth of July. Every effort 
had been made to conciliate the chiefs, and presents and promises 
were lavished upon them. The heart of Hendrik grew happy. 
" We are highly pleased that all things have been so amicably 
settled," said he, " and hope that all that has passed between 
us may be strictly observed on both sides. If we do not hold 
fast by this chain of friendship, our enemies will laugh us to 
scorn." Thirty wagons conveyed to Schenectady the rum and 
other presents which he had received for his people ; in full 
faith that his lands would be protected, and a church built at 
Canajoharie, in which should be taught the principles of peace 
and good will, he departed. 

While the conference with the Six Nations was as satisfactory 
as could have been expected, proceedings not directly connected 
therewith were had which ultimately destroyed not only the 
good which was anticipated, but plunged the confederates them- 
selves into greater discord, 3 and aroused the Lenapes to war. 



} Colonial History , vi, 865. 
a Colonial Hittory, vi, 881. 



8 Colonial History, vn, 956. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



215 



Sundry individuals of Connecticut had, after exploring the Sus- 
quehanna valley, determined to locate a settlement at Wyoming. 
The territory being regarded as the property of the Six Nations, 
although in the occupation of the Lenapes and their confederated 
clans, a deputation was sent to Albany to confer with them and 
effect its purchase. The governor of Pennsylvania promptly 
interposed objections to the procedure, and the delegates from 
that province were instructed to prevent its consummation if 
possible. The motive was entirely selfish. The proprietaries 
of Pennsylvania were also in attendance seeking the purchase of 
the same lands. The Connecticut agents succeeded, through 
the aid of Colonel Lydius. The tract purchased extended about 
seventy miles north and south, and from a parallel line ten miles 
east of the Susquehanna, westward two degrees of longitude, 
and included the whole valley of Wyoming and the country 
westward to the sources of the Alleghany. Failing to secure 
this tract for themselves, the proprietaries of Pennsylvania added 
to their purchase of 1737, u a tract of land between the Blue 
mountain and the forks of the Susquehanna river." These 
purchases were not made in open council with the representatives 
of the tribes, but from a few of the chiefs, several of whom 
were in a state of intoxication when they signed the deed of 
conveyance; but the purchasers, and especially the Connecticut 
company, 1 insisted upon their validity. 2 

The convention of deputies from the several colonies was 
continued in session until July nth. A plan of union was 
agreed to and referred to the several colonial assemblies, and 
a declaration adopted recommending that the Indians in alliance 
with the English should be placed under a competent superin- 
tendency ; that forts should be built for the security of each 
nation; that vessels of war should be placed on the lakes, and that 
any further advances of the French should be prevented. The 
latter only was approved ; the union of the colonies failed. 
Regarding the transfer of powers to a confederate organization 
as too much of an encroachment upon the liberties of the people, 
the colonial assemblies refused their assent, while the parent 



1 Known as the Susquehanna company. 2 Life and Times of Sir Wm. Johnson, 
It was organized in 1753. 1, 468, etc. 



216 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



government rejected the plan on the ground that it favored 
the democratic at the expense of the aristocratic element. 

The echo of Washington's guns on the Ohio meadows was 
speedily wafted to Canada, and scarcely had the last commis- 
sioner departed from Albany before the forests became alive 
with savage hordes let loose by the French upon the settlements. 
On the 28th of August, the St. Francis Indians fell upon 
Schaticook and Hoosic ; killed several persons, destroyed houses, 
barns and cattle, and swept off, either as prisoners or willing 
attendants, the remnant of Pennacooks residing there. 1 Bakers- 
town, in New Hampshire, was next visited, and there, as well 
at other points, men and women fell under the blows of their 
assailants, or were carried away captive. 

Even more disastrous results were inaugurated in Pennsyl- 
vania and the Ohio country when the Albany purchases became 
known. The Senecas openly repudiated the contract. The 
lands which had been sold were theirs ; were occupied by their 
children and their allies, and they would not listen to its sale. 
Their principal chief, who had been one of the intoxicated 
grantors, was driven out from their cantons ; 2 the Lenapes and 
Sbawanoes were urged to hostilities. The latter required but 
little encouragement. To them the famous " walking treaty," 
had been a sore grievance, a shameless fraud. That treaty was 
drawn by Penn in 1686, and conveyed an immense tract on the 
Delaware, the boundaries of which were described as beginning 
at a certain tree above the mouth of Neshamony creek \ thence 
by a course west-north-west to the Neshamony ; thence back 
into the woods "as far as a man could walk in a day and a 

1 On the 28th of August a party of fidelity. — Report of Gov. DeLancy, Colo- 

French Indians, said to be of Bekan- nial History, vi, 909. 
court, a place between Quebeck and Mont- 3 Johnson says that this chief fled to 

real, made an incursion into this province the French for protection against his in- 

and burnt the houses and barns full of censed people, but immediately adds : "A 

grain at Hoosic, a place lying about powerful party who followed his fortunes, 

eighteen or twenty miles east from that took up arms shortly after, attacked a 

part of Hudson's river which is ten miles body of provincials at Lake George, whom 

above Albany. They carried off with he totally defeated, and killed forty-five, 

them the few remaining Indians at Scha- Since which he was concerned in the 

ticook, being between fifty and sixty most important services against us, cut off 

in number, men, women a*nd children, some of our settlements, and occasioned 

They had a little while before, when I the deaths of more than four hundred of 

was in Albany, assured me of their our people." — Colonial History, vn, 956 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



217 



half ; " thence to the Delaware again, and so down to the place 
of beginning. Sixty years later, Penn's successors were the 
surveyors of this tract, and, in order to secure as good a bargain 
as possible, prepared a road for the " walk," provided expedi- 
tious means of crossing the intersecting streams, and selected 
the swiftest pedestrians in the province, that thereby might be 
accomplished as great a distance as possible within the time 
limited. The line on the Delaware was not fixed by the treaty, 
and advantage was taken of the omission to run the course not 
parallel with the river, but by one which extended north-east 
for a hundred miles and more, till it struck the Delaware near 
the mouth of Laxawaxen creek, far above Easton. A million 
acres of land were thus embraced, when, by a fairer computa- 
tion, three hundred and fifty thousand would have confined 
their claim. 1 

This was the largest, but not the least of the frauds which 
the Lenapes had suffered. In the Minnisink country they had 
also been defrauded. The famous Minnisink patent covered 
lands which had been purchased from them but never paid for, 
the purchasers having made the grantors drunk pending the 
execution of the deed, obtained their signatures when they knew 
not what they were doing, and then refused the promised com- 
pensation on the plea that it had already been given. 2 The 
Esopus chiefs, and the Hackinsacks and Tappans, joined in the 
complaint ; the borders of New Jersey and New York, as well 

1 Memoirs Historical Society of Pennsyl- Moravians, his residence being on the 

•vania, v, 68. old Mine Road, which they traveled. — 

2 " An elderly man who lived in the Memorials of Moravian Church, i, 46. 
Highlands, and at whose house I dined "The examinant (John Morris) says he 
on my way from New York some years often heard the Delawares say that the 
ago, told me that he lived with or in the reason of their quarrelling with and kill- 
neighborhood of one Depuy, and was ing the English in that part of the coun- 
present when the said Depuy purchased try was on account of their lands which 
the Minnisink lands from the Indians 5 the Pennsylvania government cheated 
that when they were to sign the deed of them out of, and drove them from their 
sale he made them drunk and never paid settlement at Shamokin by crowding upon 
them the purchase money agreed upon, them, and by that means spoiled their 
He heard the Indians frequently com- hunting, and that the people of Minnisink 
plain of the fraud, and declare that they used to make the Indians always drunk 
would never be easy until they had satis- whenever they traded with them, and 
faction for their lands." — Manuscripts of then cheated them out of their furs and 
Sir Wm. Johnson, xxiv, 14. Depuy was skins, also wronged them with regard to 
probably the agent employed to make the their lands." — Colonial History, vn, 332. 
purchase. He was well known to the 



218 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



as the wilderness of Pennsylvania, were rilled with the threatening 
protestations of disfranchised proprietors animated by a common 
determination to hold possession of their ancient homes. 

Hitherto their protestations had been without favorable result. 
The authorities of Pennsylvania, to provide against evil conse- 
quences, had appealed to the Five Nations to send delegates to 
a council at Philadelphia, when they had complained of the 
" walking " boundaries in 1742. The Iroquois delegates heard 
the complaint, as well as received private presents from the 
proprietaries. Subsidized by rum and trinkets, they commanded 
the Lenapes to yield possession of the lands. " We conquered 
you ; we made women of you ; we charge you to remove in- 
stantly ; we don't give you liberty to think about it; we assign 
you two places to go to, either to Wyoming or Shamoking," was 
their answer, and the debate was closed. 

The Lenapes had removed as they were bidden, and settled 
in the valley of Wyoming, but with that removal and settlement 
the " undisciplined feeling of natural equity " was fully developed 
in them. Whatever of doubt hung over their right of pos- 
session to the lands from which they had been ejected, there 
was none in regard to those to which they had been assigned. 
The Five Nations had given them the latter, and they were 
theirs. In the sale Jo the Connecticut company these lands 
were included ; in that to the agents of the Pennsylvania pro- 
prietaries, their more western hunting grounds were cut off 
without their consent. Remembering that by precisely similar 
means they had been despoiled of their former homes, they 
resolved to fight to the last in defense of their rights ; to revenge 
this last and crowning outrage, and to wipe away with blood 
the well remembered wrongs which had rankled in their 
bosoms for years. The chiefs of the east met those of the 
west in council at Alleghany, rehearsed the wrongs which they 
had suffered, and declared that wherever the white man had 
settled within the territory which they claimed, there they would 
strike him as best they could with such weapons as they could 
command ; and, that the blow might be effectually dealt, each 
warrior-chief was charged to scalp, kill and burn within the 
precincts of his birthright, and all simultaneously, from the 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



219 



frontiers, down into the heart of the settlements, until the 
English should sue for peace and promise redress. 1 

The summer was spent in hostile preparations and in establish- 
ing alliances. The Senecas gave them arms, removed from 
them the petticoat, and bade them take the hatchet ; the " six 
different nations of French Indians " 2 plead their cause with the 
Mohawks, and 44 advised and entreated them " to break the 
Albany sales, and to 44 have some consideration for those they 
called brothers 3 the council at Onondaga repudiated the 
offensive contracts. October came, and no sooner had the 
biting frost reddened the maple and hardened the yellow corn in 
the husk, than, with their allies, painted black for war, in bands 
of two or four abreast, they moved eastward with murderous 
intent, and the line of the Blue mountain, from the Delaware 
to the Susquehanna, became the scene of the carnival which 
they held with torch and tomahawk during many coming months. 
The defenseless settlers were harassed by an unseen foe by 
day and by night. Some were shot down at the plow, some 
were killed at the fireside ; men, women and children were 
promiscuously tomahawked or scalped, or hurried away into 
distant captivity, for torture or for coveted ransom. There 
was literally a pillar of fire by night and a pillar and cloud by 
day going up along the horizon, marking the progress of the 
relentless Indians, as they dealt out death, and pillage, and con- 
flagration, and drove before them, in midwinter's flight, hundreds 
of homeless wanderers, who scarce knew where to turn for 
safety or for succor in the swift destruction that was come upon 
them.* 

The attacking force appeared in two distinct yet united or- 
ganizations — that of the eastern Lenapes, under the lead of 
Teedyuscung ; that of the western under Shingas. 5 Both 

1 Thompson's Alienation. ploits on record they would form an in- 

3 These were representatives of the Six teresting document, though a shocking 

Nations who had removed to Canada at one. His person was small, but in point 

the instigation of the French priests. of courage and activity, he was said ne- 

3 Colonial History, vi, 938. ver to have been exceeded by any one." 

4 Memorials Mera-vian Church, 1, 193. {Heckeivelder s Narrative, 64). Pennsyl- 
bii Shingask was his proper name, vania offered £200 for his scalp. His 

which interpreted is a bog meadow, brother, Tamaque, or King Beaver, 
This man was the greatest Delaware was also a distinguished warrior and 
warrior of that time 5 were his war ex- chief. — Ib. f 61, 64. 



220 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



were equal in determination, though perhaps unequal in strength, 
the western being the most formidable in numbers, in position, 
and in the direct aid which they could obtain from the French. 
The defeat of Braddock in July, was the signal for the 
aggressive action already outlined in general terms. The 
western organization was first to strike. On the 16th of Oc- 
tober they fell upon the whites of John Penn's creek, four 
miles south of Shamokin. Here they killed or took captive 
twenty-five persons ; and it was only the twenty-third of the 
month when all the settlements along the Susquehanna, between 
Shamokin and Hunter's mill, for a distance of fifty miles, were 
hopelessly deserted. Early in November the Great and Little 
Cove were attacked and the inhabitants either put to death or 
taken prisoners, and the settlements totally destroyed. 

These blows were promptly seconded by the eastern organ- 
ization under Teedyuscung. Assembling his allied Lenape, 
Shawanoe and Mahican warriors at Nescopec, he marked out 
the plan of the campaign for the coming autumn and winter. 
Its operations were to be restricted to the " walking purchase," 
within which it was resolved to chastise the English first, by 
waging against them a war of extermination. From their lurk- 
ing places in the fastnesses of the Great Swamp, the wronged 
warriors, led by Teedyuscung in person, sallied forth on their 
marauds, striking consternation into the hearts of the settlers. 
Falling upon the farms along the Susquehanna and Delaware, 
they fired the harvested grain and fodder in barns and in barracks, 
destroyed large numbers of cattle and horses, and killed thirteen 
persons. On the 24th of November the Moravian mission at 
Gnadenhutten was surprised and ten of its converts scalped, or 
shot, or tomahawked, or burned to death in their dwellings. 
This was but the prelude to the tragedy which was to be per- 
formed. Along the northern line of the tract which had been 
so fraudulently surveyed, the tide of devastation rolled its black- 
ening current. Within a month, fifty farm houses were plun- 
dered and burned, and upwards of one hundred persons killed 
on the frontiers on both sides of the Kittatinny, or endless 
hills. " All our border country," writes a chronicler of the day, 
"extending from the Potomac to the Delaware, not less than one 



OF HUDSON'S R1FER. 221 

hundred and fifty miles in length and between twenty and thirty 
in breadth, has been entirely deserted, its houses reduced to 
ashes, and the cattle, horses, grain and other possessions of the 
inhabitants either destroyed, burned or carried off by the Indians ; 
while such of the poor planters who, with their wives, children 
and servants, escaped from the enemy, have been obliged, in 
this inclement season of the year, to abandon their habitations 
almost naked, and to throw themselves upon the charity of those 
who dwell in the interior of the province." 

The Minsis, unleashed, performed their part — for each tribal 
clan, it will be borne in mind, was, by the terms of the compact, 
required to strike within the territory which they claimed as their 

birthright — and on the borders of 
Ulster and Orange counties in New 
York, and in the western settle- 
ments of New Jersey, were repeated 
the fearful ravages of the more 
remote districts of Pennsylvania. 
Except in the toVn of Goshen, 
the settlements here were at con- 
siderable distance from each other 
and much exposed to the surprises 
of the Indian enemy. The incur- 
sions of the Indians were frequent; the people, especially in the 
northern part of Orange and southern part of Ulster, were kept in 
almost perpetual alarm and under such " continued military duty 
as to be rendered incapable of taking care of their private affairs 
for the support of their families." An extent of country, on 
the west side of the Wallkill, of fifteen miles in length and 
seven or eight in breadth, which was "well and thickly settled, 
was abandoned by the inhabitants, who, for their safety, removed 
their families to the east side of the river, and became a charge 
on the charity of their neighbors," while others " removed to 
distant parts, and some out of the province. 1 

" Fatigues of body, in continually guarding and ranging the 
woods, and anxiety of mind which the inhabitants could not 




1 New York Manuscript^ lxxxii, 107, etc. 



222 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



avoid by their being exposed to a cruel and savage enemy, 
increased by the perpetual lamentations and cries of the women 
and children," were not the only evils which the inhabitants 
suffered. Three men were killed at Cochecton ; five men at 
Philip Swartwout's ; Benjamin Sutton and one Rude, two of 
the Goshen militia, were killed at Minnisink ; Morgan Owen 
was killed and scalped about four miles from Goshen ; a woman, 
taken prisoner at Minnisink, was killed and her body cut in halves 
and left by the highway ; Silas Hulet's house was robbed and 
he himself narrowly escaped. " From about the drowned lands 
for fifteen miles down' the Wallkill, where fifty families dwelt, 
all save four abandoned their fields and crops. " 1 

Meanwhile General Edward Braddock, whose defeat has been 
incidentally noticed, had arrived in Virginia with two regiments 
of English troops, and at a conference with the royal governors, 
on the 14th of April, had planned four expeditions against the 
French ; the first was to effect the complete reduction of Nova 
Scotia, the second was to recover the Ohio valley, the third was 
to expel the French from Fort Niagara and form a junction 
with the expedition to the Ohio, and the fourth, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Johnson, was to have for its object the capture 
of Crown point, for which purpose he was to have the militia of 
New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the warriors 
of the Six Nations under his command. To aid in securing 
the services of the latter, as well as to effect a more complete 
organization of the Indian alliances, he was appointed superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs, with full power to make treaties in the 
interest of the crown. 2 

Returning from Alexandria, where the conference had been 
held, Johnson entered upon the work which had been assigned 
to him. From Mount Johnson, to which he removed the 
council-fire which had for so many years been kept burning at 
Albany, he sent a belt to each of the confederate tribes, 

J<< All the families between the depo- which was, last year, fifteen or sixteen 

nent's house and Minnisink, to the amount miles within the settlements at Minnisink, 

of one hundred and fifty persons, have is about sixteen miles from Hudson's 

deserted those settlements and come into river." — Affidavit of James Howell, Neiv 

four frontier houses, one of which is the York Manuscripts, lxxxii, 1 07, etc. 

deponent's: that deponent's house, which 2 Colonial History, vi, 961. 
is now a frontier house on that side, and 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



223 



acquainting them of his appointment and asking them to 
come and meet him. Over a thousand sons of the forest 
accepted the invitation, and, on the 21st of June, seated them- 
selves before him in council. While ready to do him personal 
service and honor, they had many complaints to make — were 
deeply entangled by their pledges to the French as well as to 
their tribal blood in Canada. Johnson listened to them with 
patience, and, after answering all their inquiries, delivered to 
them a ringing appeal to join him. The chiefs listened and 
applauded ; drank the rum which had been provided, accepted 
the presents, and danced the war dance, but that was all. To 
march with him to the frontiers they were not prepared, and 
plead the shortness of the warning, the want of time to call in 
their scattered people, the disgraceful termination of the con- 
test of 1745, their relations with their Canada brethren ; indeed, 
there was apparently no end to the reasons which they could not 
assign to conceal their indifference to the English cause and the 
divisions which existed among themselves. 

From this boasted " bulwark " against the French, turn for 
a moment to the conduct of the nations in the French alliance, 
led by the flower of the Hudson river tribes. At the call of 
Vaudreuil three and thirty nations rallied to his ranks. From 
the rivers of Maine and Acadia, and the wildernesses of Lake 
Huron and Lake Superior, the martial airs of France were 
shouted in the many tongues of the allied nations as they pressed 
with swift destruction upon the border settlements and returned 
laden with the trophies of the fray. 

Hendrik and his Mohawks, bound by personal ties to John- 
son, with here and there a warrior from the other tribes, to the 
number of fifty, left Albany with Johnson on the 8th of Au- 
gust. At the " carrying place " some two hundred warriors 
joined him, 1 giving to him, with the militia, a force of about 
thirty-five hundred men. The French, marching in about 
equal force to attack Oswego, were called back and sent, under 
Baron Dieskau, to the defense of Crown point. Leaving the 
largest portion of his forces at that Fort, Dieskau pushed on 

'The French report says: "All the Tharhkarorin, some Mahicans, and one 
Mohawks were there, some Oneidas, some Onondaga." — Colonial History, x, 322. 



224 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



intending to attack Fort Edward, cut off Johnson's retreat, and 
annihilate his army. Misled by his guides, he found himself 
on the road to Lake George and only four miles distant from 
Johnson's encampment at Ticonderoga. Leaving his position, 
Johnson detached one thousand men and two hundred Indians 
to bring on an engagement. The opposing forces met on the 
8th of September. Finding the French too powerful, the Eng- 
lish fell back to Ticonderoga ; the French pursued and re- 
sumed the battle under the walls of Johnson's position. After 
a severe engagement, from twelve until four o'clock, the French 
retreated. The losses on both sides were heavy, that of the 
English being one hundred and fifty-eight killed, including King 
Hendrik and thirty-eight of his warriors, ninety-two wounded 
and sixty-two missing, while that of the French was between 
three and four hundred. 1 Johnson was wounded slightly, and 
Dieskau mortally. The French retreat was unmolested ; Crown 
point was not reduced. Such was the victory which gave to 
Johnson a baronetcy, and to American history Fort Ticonderoga. 

Johnson returned to his residence in November, and was 
met at Schenectady by a message from the governor of Penn- 
sylvania asking his aid in arresting the depredations of the Lenapes 
in that province. Summoning the chiefs of the Six Nations 
(Jan. 7th), he informed them that u the Shawanoes and Dela- 
wares and river Indians 2 were committing hostilities in the 
southern part of New York, as well as in New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania that they had " burned several out settlements 
and killed many people who had never offended them that 
as the offenders were " looked upon as allies and dependents of 
the Six Nations," and living within the limits of their country, 
it was expected that they would reprimand them " for what 
they had already done, prevent their doing any more mischief, 
and insist on their turning their arms against the French. "3 

The mission was promptly undertaken by the Mohawk, 
Oneida and Tuscarora chiefs. 4 They had already sent a belt 
to the Lenapes and their allies desiring that they would not 

1 Life and Timet of Sir Wm. "Johnson. 8 Colonial History, vn, 44. 

12 The reference is to Mahican and 4 These were the only nations repre- 
other clans residing on the Delaware. sented at the conference. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



225 



join with any but the Five Nations ; J now they would " appoint 
with them a conference at Tiyoga and endeavor to put a stop 
to any more bloodshed." The loyal Seneca villages 2 exercised 
their influence in the same direction. Visited by a party of 
Lenapes on their way to Niagara, they tried to persuade them 
to stop, and called to their aid their most venerable chief ; but 
neither belts nor personal appeals had any effect upon the fol- 
lowers of Shingas. Replying to the loyal Senecas they ex- 
claimed : " We have once been women and ashamed to look 
down at our petticoats, but as you have taken off our petticoats, 
and encouraged us to begin a quarrel with the English, we are 
determined never to submit again to that ignominious state while 
there is one of us alive. It seems to us that you now want to 
throw all the blame on us, and make peace, which we will not 
hearken to, but will go to our father the French, who will assist 
and protect us." 3 Thither they went, and to the commandant 
at Niagara declared : " Father — We are now at war with the 
English. When we first began, being very poor, we struck 
them with billets of wood." In reply, the commandant gave 
them a hatchet, and arms and ammunition, and lighted afresh 
the torch of war which they had waved along the borders. 

Not more successful were the direct appeals of Johnson's 
embassadors to Shingas. " Get sober," said they to him, in 
the metaphorical language of Indian speech ; " Get sober — your 
actions are those of a drunken man." But the days of yore 
were gone, when the trembling Lenape stood cowering in the 
presence of the Mengwe. Unhesitating submission to the man- 
dates of the tribes that had so long oppressed and insulted his 
nation, was no longer written on his heart. Of the old con- 
federacy the most powerful part were now his friends, while 
around him had gathered his grandchildren in formidable num- 
bers. To the words of the embassadors he returned scoff for 
scoff, and scorn for scorn. " We are men," said he ; " we are 
men and warriors. We will acknowledge no superiors upon 

1 When speaking of themselves in of two Seneca villages who remained 
official transactions Five Nations only loyal to the English. As already stated, 
were recognized. The Tuscaroras had the great bulk of the Senecas were ac- 
no territorial rights or authority. tively aiding the French. 

2 The Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas a Manuscripts of Sir William Johnson, 
preferred neutrality, with the exception iv, 131. 



226 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



earth. We are men, and are determined to be no longer ruled 
over by you as women. We are warriors, and are determined 
to cut off all the English save those that make their escape from 
us in ships. So say no more to us on that head, lest we make 
women of you as you have done of us." 1 

At Otseningo the embassadors were more successful, the 
Lenapes and their allies there being more immediately under the 
influence of the Oneidas. From thence they returned, on the 
27th of December, bearing with them the message that the 
offending chiefs there had promised to " stop and repent," but 
as a condition thereto the English must return the captives 
which they had taken ; that they " must see every one of them 
returned again " or it " would not be well for this they would 
wait two months, and if the captives were then returned* they 
would " contrive to make up the matter and settle affairs, and 
not till then ;" meanwhile they promised that their young men 
who were on the war path should be called back." 2 

In February, 1756, Johnson again called the attention of his 
allies to the matter, and reminded them that unless they exerted 
themselves to " maintain their superiority," they would " not 
only lose that authority " which had been hitherto acknowledged, 
but would have the Lenapes their enemies. Red Head, the 
Onondaga sachem, replied, that when first requested to do so a 
message had been dispatched to the Lenapes, which had subse- 
quently been " backed with a second message ; " that both 
messages having proved abortive, they had u obtained an inter- 
view," through the Oneidas, at which the Lenapes had promised 
that hostilities should cease. They would cheerfully renew 
their efforts, and would appoint a meeting at Otseningo, at which, 
by a full representation of the tribes, they would endeavor to 
exercise that influence in which they had hitherto failed. 

Pending this new mission, a delegation of friendly Lenapes 
met Johnson in conference, on the 29th of February. The 
Oneida and Tuscarora embassadors opened the proceedings, and 
stated that the Shawanoes were on their way to Chugnut 3 where 

1 Thompsons Alienation, 77 ; Memoirs 3 On the south side of the Susquehanna 
Historical Society Pennsylvania, v, 98. river, opposite Binghamton. It was a 

2 Colonial History, vn, 44, 49. very small portion of the Shawanoes that 

were represented. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



227 



they would live under the protection of the Six Nations \ that 
the Lenapes had given the strongest assurances of peace, and that 
they earnestly desired that a fort might be erected for their pro- 
tection. Johnson expressed his gratification at the disposition 
of the chiefs in attendance ; promised that a fort should be 
built for the protection of the Lenapes and that they should be 
cared for and supplied with arms and ammunition. Adam, on 
the part of the latter, expressed his appreciation of the kindness 
which they had received, and promised never to forget it. The 
visit was of no significance touching the action of the Lenapes 
proper, but appears to have been gotten up to indicate that the 
Oneidas and Tuscaroras still had the influence which they claimed. 

On the 2 rst of April, the embassadors of the second mission 
made their report. They had visited the Lenapes and Sha- 
wanoes, and had succeeded, they said, in " convincing them that 
they had acted very foolishly and very unjustifiably," and that 
they had "promised and agreed" to unite with them against 
the " common enemy ; " but at the same time had expressed 
the desire that they might have a hearing at Onondaga to con- 
vince them that harmony and friendship with them was desired, 
in which request the embassadors united. Johnson accepted 
the proposition; he would hold a council at Onondaga twenty 
days hence, and charged the chiefs, then present with the duty 
of extending the invitation. 

About the same time an important change took place in the 
Lenape government. Tadame, 1 their king, was treacherously 
murdered, but by whom is not stated, and Teedyuscung, that 
" lusty, raw-boned man," whose voice had already been heard 
in the wilderness, became his successor. Enjoying the confi- 
dence of his people, as well as possessing great native ability, he 
had already become a power to be both feared and conciliated. 
For peace with the English he was ready, but it must be a 
peace which recognized the rights of his nation ; to no other 
would he listen, and spurned alike the threats and the blandish- 
ments of those who would influence him to a different policy. 

1 We have not met with a more spe- long out lived his activity. — Minor's His- 

cific reference to this chief. He appears tory Wyoming ; Memorials Moravian 

to have been the successor of Allum- Churchy i, 67. 
panees who died in 1747, after having 



228 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



In the meantime, Pennsylvania declared war against the 
Lenapes and Shawanoes, and sent out a force of three hundred 
men, under the charge of Benjamin Franklin, to build a fort at 
Gnadenhutten 1 or Shamokin, and restore the fugitive Moravian 
Indians and their missionaries to their lands. Johnson doubted 
the policy of these movements, regarding it as the part of wis- 
dom to have awaited the result of the negotiations which he 
had inaugurated, and which he believed only awaited the council 
which he had appointed at Onondaga for their consummation. 
That council assembled in June, but Teedyuscung did not 
attend, nor were his subordinate chiefs present in numbers suffi- 
cient " to enter upon business and conclude affairs relating to 
them with proper authority." 2 To entertain and conciliate 
them special effort had been made. Thirty Indians from the 
Delaware river, who had been taken prisoners by the English, 
and whose release had been insisted upon, were taken up in full 
clothing and armament, as a peace offering, and ample presents 
were provided for distribution. On the last day of the session 
Teedyuscung made his appearance, but would do nothing, and 
the conference was adjourned to Mount Johnson. 3 

The adjourned conference was more successful. Teedyus- 
cung, having satisfied himself that the English were not only 
sincere in their desire for peace, but had been convinced that 
the Six Nations, in their present condition, were wholly unable 
to control his people, made his appearance, and was urged to 
explain the reason for the hostilities which had been committed, 
and to enter upon a covenant of peace. But he was not pre- 
pared to comply. " I cannot take upon me at this time to give 
a determinate answer to you," said he, " but I shall punctually 
deliver your speech to all my nation on my return home, and 
you shall have our fixed resolutions and positive answers as soon 
as possible." Dismissing him, Johnson called the confederate 

1 Fort Allen. It was located at the 2 There were only two young warriors 

Moravian town of Gnadenhutten, on the of the Delaware nation present. — Colonial 

Lehigh river, opposite the mouth of the History, vn, 146. 

Mahoning, and adjoined the Lenape 3 Neither did the deputation from the 

town of Shamokin where Teedyuscung Delawares come till that meeting was 

had his residence. It was built in Janu- near upon a conclusion. — Colonial History, 

ary, 1756, by Benjamin Franklin. — vu, 153. 
Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vn, 15. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



229 



chiefs to advise with him what further course to pursue, and 
it was agreed that the latter should visit Teedyuscung in his 
tent and persuade him to declare his intentions at the session 
of the following day. To this the king consented, and, at the 
appointed time, stated that he could only agree for himself and 
his people at Tiyoga ; that his brethren on the Ohio must 
determine for themselves, but for himself and those whose 
representative he was, he promised to follow the example of the 
Six Nations — a promise at that time of very doubtful import. 
Paxinos, the Shawanoe king, made similar pledge, and Abraham, 
on behalf of the Mahicans at Otsiningo, united in the assurance 
of harmony. A formal declaration or covenant of peace and 
friendship was then made, and the war dance celebrated. 

Still 4 Johnson was not altogether satisfied that his work was 
well done. He knew that the Lenapes, and their allies, aspired 
to if they did not possess the independence which they claimed, 
and that so long as this was denied, peace would not be possible. 
The necessities of the English were great, 1 the determination of 
the Lenapes and their allies undisguised. Selfishness became 
the ally of justice — the diplomacy of Teedyuscung secured the 
triumph of his people. In the watches of the night Johnson 
meditated, and on the morning of the 12th of July, after con- 
sultation with the sachems of the Six Nations, declared to the 
Lenape king, and the representatives of the Shawanoes and 
Mahicans, that, in consideration of the promise they had made, 
and in full confidence of their future suitable behavior, they 
were " hereafter to be considered as men," by all their brethren 
the English, u and no longer as women," and expressed 
the hope that the Six Nations would follow his example and 
remove the "invidious distinction." 2 Decking the chiefs with 
medals, and the kings with silver gorgets, he covered the em- 
bers of the council-fire, and sent from his presence a rehabi- 
litated race. 

I The good consequences that will Shawanese that are settled on the Ohio 
attend the accommodating of this un- from the French interest. I doubt their 
happy breach are great. It will give a present connections are too strong to hope 
great turn to the affairs of the present war for this success now. — Hardy to Lords of 
in North America, and I trust may, by a Trade, May 10, 1756. 
little time and proper management, en- 2 Colonial History, vn, 151, 160. 
able us to withdraw the Delawares and 



230 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



While the attention of Johnson was mainly devoted to the 
pacification of the more important Indian nations, the domestic 
clans of Minsis and Mahicans, who remained in the valley of the 
Hudson, were not neglected. To the former, proclamation was 
made in December, 1755, through the justices of Ulster, 
inviting them to remove from the " back settlements, where 
they might be taken for enemies and destroyed," to the " towns 
where they would be protected and assisted." Accepting these 
assurances, many of them came forward ; but the promised pro- 
tection and assistance was not, in all cases, extended. At Wile- 
mantown, in Ulster county, 1 at the house of Charles Stevenson, 
where a number of them assembled, they were attacked, on the 
second of March, by a party of armed men, headed by Samuel 
Slaughter, and a man and his squaw killed. Moving from 
thence to a wigwam about a mile and a half distant, three In- 
dians, two squaws and two children fell victims to Slaughter's 
misguided zeal. 2 Those who reached Kingston, while spared 
hostile attack, were suffered to remain dependent 'upon such 
charity as was usually extended to their race. Under the cir- 
cumstances in which they were placed, they readily accepted 
the offer which was made to them to remove to the Mohawk 
country. To that end Mohawk chiefs were sent to them, with 
an interpreter, and provision made for their transportation. 
On the 22d of May they appeared before Johnson, were ad- 
dressed and assigned to lands in the Schoharie county. 3 

Many of the Mahicans of the upper Hudson and Wappingers 
of Dutchess followed in the same direction. On the 28th of 
May, Johnson writes : " The river Indians whose families are 
at Fishkill, have had a meeting with the Mohawk Indians, and 
it is agreed that they shall remove and live with the Mohawks. 
Two of those Indians are going down to fetch up their women, 
children, etc., and I send an interpreter with them. As the 
removal of these Indians and their incorporation with the Mo- 
hawks is an affair that will be, I hope, of happy consequence 
towards the public tranquillity at this juncture, I must desire you 

1 Near Walden, Orange county, in the Documentary History of New Tork, n, 
state of New York. 763, 764. 

3 New Tork Manuscripts, lxxxii, 88 ; 3 Colonial History, vil, 94, 96, 100, 1 1 3. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



231 



will give all assistance in your power to the Indians who are 
going down, and take care that no just cause of dissatisfaction be 
given to them." 1 When Johnson returned to his residence on 
the 9th of July, he found, as the fruit of this order, one hundred 
and ninety-six " Mohicander or river Indians," men, women and 
children, awaiting his pleasure. In the afternoon he clothed the 
men " from head to foot, gave them ammunition, paint, etc., in 
the presence of the Six Nations and the Shawanoes and Delaware 
kings." 2 They were warmly greeted by their brethren who 
had left them many years before, and who were then present, 
as well as by the Nanticokes^ in whose immediate vicinity they 
were assigned lands at Otsiningo. 3 Thither they went, and in 
the subsequent assemblies of the tribes took their place as the 
allies of the Senecas. After serving Johnson faithfully for a 
time, and especially in his expedition against Crown point, they 
joined the fortunes of their brethren in the Lenape confederation 
and lost their identity in their subsequent wars. 

The peace which Johnson had made with Teedyuscung was 
only partial. In consenting to it the latter had defined his authority 
as limited to the territory which he specially represented. For 
himself, and those who acknowledged his authority, he had 
promised — the Lenapes, Shawanoes and Mahicans of the Ohio 
country — he would influence if he could. To attend any peace 
conference with Johnson, they had refused, as also had the 
Minsis. Said the latter: " We have murdered the English from 
Canastota to Esopus. Warraghiyagy (Johnson) may pretend 
to make peace, but peace is not in his power. The governor 
of Pennsylvania is master this way, and will not listen to peace," 
and such was the interpretation which Teedyuscung himself 

1 Manuscripts of Sir Wm. Johnson, iv, and the Senecas appointed lands for you 
54. to cultivate. Call all your dispersed 

2 Colonial History, vn, 153. brethren together and sit down here with 
3 "Last spring," said Jonathan, who them as their habitation, and we Nanti- 

represented them at the conference of cokes assure you that whoever shall pinch 

April 23d, 1757, " last spring, with this or hurt you, we shall feel it, and the Six 

belt the Nanticokes took us by the hand Nations shall do the same.' This belt 

and bid us sit down by them. They said we propose to send among all our dispersed 

to us, ' you Mohikanders and we Nanti- people ; we acquaint you herewith, and 

cokes will be one people and take you whenever you see any of our scattered 

Mohikanders by the hand as brethren, people passing up the river, you will know 

and fix you here at Otsiningo, where the they are removing to Otsiningo." — Colo- 

Six Nations have lighted a council fire nial History, vn, 253. 



232 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



gave to Johnson's jurisdiction. Monakadook, 1 the Seneca Half- 
King, who had been sent to the Ohio Lenapes to invite them to 
Onondaga, was the bearer of a message from them to the 
governor. On his arrival he found that Teedyuscung had pre- 
ceded him, and had informed him that he had been empowered 
by ten nations 2 to conclude a peace, and was prepared to nego- 
tiate. Monakadook could give the governor no information on 
the subject, and was made the bearer to Johnson of the inquiry : 
" Who is this Teedyuscung who claims to be king of the 
Delawares ? " coupled with the declaration that his protestations 
of a desire for peace must be false, "as the Delaware Indians 
were still murdering" his people. 3 

Johnson professed entire ignorance in regard to the commis- 
sion which Teedyuscung claimed he had received, and it is not 
probable that he had any information on the subject.* The 
inference is that the chiefs who were negotiating in his interest, 
having failed to control the Lenapes, had concealed from him 
their further action in the matter, hoping to effect the end which 
he sought by other means, with a view to maintain a reputation 
which, they no longer possessed. 4 Johnson promised to make 
inquiry at Onondaga in regard to the matter. What the result 
of this inquiry was does not appear; but the governor of Penn- 
sylvania was convinced, and modified his declaration of war, 
making it applicable only to tc implacable and obstinate enemies, 
and not against any that now are or hereafter may be disposed 
to hearken to the Six Nations in our favor." By November he 

1 So called by the Iroquois. coats on them. A long time after that, 

2 Including, as subsequently appeared, they lived among you, and, upon some 
his own immediate tribes and the Six differences between them and you, we 
Nations. thought proper to remove them, giving 

3 Colonial History, vn, 197. The go- them lands to plant and hunt on at 
vernor sent a more formal message by Wyoming and Juniatta. But you, cove- 
Captain Newcastle, in October, inquiring tous of land, made plantations there and 
into the character and credentials of spoiled thtir hunting. They complained 
Teedyuscung, and, it is said was informed to us, and we found their complaints true, 
by one of the Six Nations that the Dela- You dro^e them into the arms of the 
ware chief " did not speak the truth when French. It is our advice that you send 
he told the governor that he had authority for the Senecas and them, treat them 
from the Six Nations to treat with Onas." kindly, and give them back some part of 

4 This inference is strengthened by the their lands, rather than differ with them, 
speech of the Mohawk orator at Lancas- It is in your power to settle the difference 
ter. "In former times our forefathers with them if you please." — Gallatin , 78 
conquered the Delawares, and put petti- 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



233 



had fully learned who Teedyuscung was, and at Easton held a 
formal conference with him. The Lenape king stated his com- 
plaint boldly and plainly. To the governor's inquiry for speci- 
fications in regard to alleged wrongs in the sale of lands, he 
replied : " I have not far to go for an instance. This very 
ground under me (striking it with his foot), was my land by 
inheritance, and is taken from me by fraud. When I say this 
ground, I mean all the land lying between Tohiccon creek and 
Wyoming, on the river Susquehanna. I have not only been 
served so in this government, but the same thing has been done 
to me as to several tracts in New Jersey, over the river." 
When asked what he meant by " fraud," he gave instances of 
forged deeds, under which lands were claimed which were never 
sold. " This," said he, " is fraud." " Also, when one chief has 
land beyond the river, and another chief has land on this side, 
both bounded by rivers, mountains and springs, which cannot be 
moved, and the proprietaries, ready to purchase lands, buy of one 
chief what belongs to another, this likewise is fraud." In regard 
to the lands on the Delaware, he said his people had never been 
satisfied since the treaty of 1737. The boundary of the land 
then sold was to have gone only "as far as a man could walk 
in a day and a half from Nashamony creek," yet the person 
who measured the ground did not walk but ran. He was, more- 
over, as they supposed, to follow the winding bank of the river, 
whereas he went in a straight line. And because the Indians 
had been unwilling to give up the land as far as the " walk " 
extended, the governor sent for their cousins, the Six Nations, 
to come down and drive them from the land. When the Six 
Nations came down, the Lenapes met them for the purpose of 
explaining why they did not give up the land ; but the English 
made so many presents to the Six Nations that their ears were 
stopped. They would listen to no explanations ; and Canasa- 
teego 1 had abused them, and called them women. The Six 
Nations had, however, given to them and the Shawanoes the 
lands upon the Susquehanna and Juniatta for hunting grounds, 
and had so informed the governor ; but notwithstanding this the 
white men were allowed to go and settle upon those lands. 

1 A viceroy chieftain who had been set over them by the Six Nations. 



234 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Two years ago, moreover, the governor had been to Albany to 
buy some land of the Six Nations, 1 and had described the 
boundaries by points of compass, which the Indians did not 
understand, by which the deeds were made to include lands both 
upon the Susquehanna and the Juniata which they did not intend 
to sell. When all these things were known to the Indians, 
they had declared that they would no longer be friends to the 
English, who were trying to get all their country away from 
them. He had come now to smoke the pipe of peace with 
them, and hoped that justice might be done to his people. 2 

The conference continued nine days, and was the occasion 
for the display of no little tact and good judgment on the part 
of Governor Denny, as well as on that of Teedyuscung. The 
former, as some of the Iroquois chiefs expressed it, " put his 
hand into Teedyuscung's bosom, and was so successful as to 
draw out the secret, which neither Johnson nor the Six Nations 
could do while tne latter secured a truce at least involving 
peace on the basis that himself and his people were to remain on 
the Wyoming lands, and that houses should be built for them 
by the Pennsylvania proprietaries. He was to go to Johnson's 
council-fire and explain what had been done, obtain his confirm- 
ation and take advice as to the future. Several matters were 
left unadjusted, Teedyuscung declaring that he was not empow- 
ered to consider them, and that the parties interested were not 
properly represented to make action binding. He proposed 
that a meeting should be held at Lancaster in the spring, at 
which all the matters in dispute should be definitely adjusted, 
and with that understanding the council closed. 

But at the meeting which was then appointed, Teedyuscung 
was not present, 3 and it was not until the 21st of July that the 
adjourned council was held. On its assemblage the Lenape 
king presented his credentials as the representative of the 
Lenapes, Minsis, Mahicans, Shawanoes and Nanticokes, east of the 
Alleghany mountains, fully empowered by them and by the 
Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Mohawks, " to set- 

'' 1 At the congress of 1754. 3 The attendance of the Indians was 

3 Life and Times of Sir Wm. Johnson ; prevented by the severity of the winter, 
Colonial History, vn, 260, etc. the snow being too deep to permit them 

to travel. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



235 



tie all differences subsisting between them and their brethren, 
the English." George Croghan represented Johnson, as super- 
intendent of Indian affairs. A patient, earnest and honest in- 
vestigation was had. Surrounded by three hundred of his 
people ; counselled by Paxinos, chief of the Shawanoes, and Abra- 
ham, chief of the Mahicans, and advised by a delegation of 
Quakers, one of whom, Charles Thompson, acted as his clerk, 1 
Teedyuscung conducted his case. " The land is the cause of 
our difFerence, ,, said he, " and if I can now prevail with you, as 
I hope I shall, honestly to do what may be consistent with jus- 
tice, then will I with a loud voice speak, and the nations shall 
hear me. The complaint I made last fall, I yet continue. I 
think some lands have been bought by the proprietor or his 
agents from Indians who had not a right to sell, and to whom 
the lands did not belong. I think also when some lands have 
been sold to the proprietor by Indians who had a right to sell to 
a certain place, whether that purchase was made by miles or 
hours' walk, the proprietors have, contrary to agreement or bar- 
gain, taken in more lands than they ought to have done, and 
lands that belonged to others. I therefore now desire that you 
will produce the writings and deeds by which you hold the land 
and let them be read in public and examined, that it may be 
fully known from what Indians you bought the lands you hold 
and how far your purchase extends. What is fairly bought and 
paid for, I make no further demands about, but if any lands have 
been bought of Indians to whom they did not belong, and who 
had no right to sell them, I expect satisfaction for those lands ; 
and if the proprietors have taken in more lands than they bought 
of true owners, I expect likewise to be paid for that. But as 
the persons to whom the proprietors may have sold those lands 
which of right belong to me, have made some settlements, I 

1 " At this council Teedyuscung insisted Philadelphia, was appointed. He was 

upon having a secretary of his own selec- afterwards secretary to the Continental 

tion appointed, to take down the pro- congress, and filled that station for many 

ccedings in behalf of the Indians. The years. He died in 1824, aged 94 years, 

demand was considered extraordinary and full of honors. The Delawares adopted 

was opposed by Governor Denny. Teedy- him and gave him a name signifying, 

uscung persisted in his demand, and it the man of truth. — Life and Times of 

was finally acceded to. Charles Thomp- Sir Wm. Johnson ^n, 14. 
son, master of the free Quaker School in 



236 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



don't want to disturb them or force them to leave them, but I 
expect a full satisfaction shall be made to the true owners for 
these lands." 

The deeds which he questioned, it was proposed should be 
sent to Johnson to examine ; but to this he objected : " We do 
not know Colonel Johnson ; he may be an honest and sincere 
man. We do understand he treats his Indians very well, but 
we are sensible that some of the nations are there that have 
been instrumental to this misunderstanding in selling lands in 
this province, having in former years usurped that authority and 
called us women, and threatened to take us by the foretop, 
and throw us aside as women. But after a long space I believe 
it is evident, nay there are witnesses present who can prove 
that it is otherwise. Let the deeds be produced here and put 
down with the minutes." The governor complied with the 
request, and the deeds were compared by Thompson, who 
certified to the correctness of the transcripts which were made. 
They were five in number. 1 It was agreed that they should be 
sent to Johnson for transmission to the king, and that awaiting 
his decision upon the questions which the Indians had raised, 
there should be peace. 

These matters having been made satisfactory, Teedyuscung 
announced his purpose. "I shall, as I promised," said he, 
" speak to the different nations with a loud voice. I will faithfully 
let them know what you have promised, and as we are wit- 
nesses that you are wealthy and powerful, and well disposed to 
assist such as shall come in as brothers, I will let them know 
it. Those who come to me with hostile intent, I will stop, 
and if they will not by reasonable terms turn about and join 
with me, I will then make an end of them or they of me ; and 
if there is a great number, so that I may not be able to with- 
stand them, I will take all prudent steps to let my brethren 
the English know." "Now," said he, in conclusion, "you 

1 I. A paper copy of the last Indian pur- from the Six Nations of lands, eastward to 

chase, July, 28, 1686 2. A release Delaware river, dated October 25, 1736, 

from the Delaware Indians, August 25, with another endorsed, " Dated July 9, 

1757. 3. A release from the Five Na- 1754." 5. A deed of release for In- 

tions. for the lands on the Susquehanna dian purchase, dated August, 22,1749. — 

river, October, 11, 1736. 4. A release Colonial History t vn, 313. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



237 



may remember I was styled by my uncles, the Six Nations, a 
woman in former years, and had no hatchet in my hand, but a 
pestle or hominy pounder. But now, brethren, here are some 
of my uncles who are present to witness the truth of this. As 
I had no tomahawk and my uncles were always styled men and 
had tomahawks in their hands, they gave me a tomahawk ; and 
as my uncles have given me a tomahawk and appointed and 
authorized me to make peace with a tomahawk in my hand, I 
take that tomahawk and turn the edge of it against your enemies 
the French." 

The papers which were transmitted to Johnson were imme- 
diately sent by him to the lords of trade, accompanied by the 
statement that " some of the Six Nations were disgusted with 
the deed which had been given at Albany, while others were 
conniving at the hostilities which were being committed, and 
that he conceived the "most effectual method of producing tran- 
quillity," would be the voluntary and open surrender of that 
deed, leaving the proprietaries to fix with the Indians, in the 
best manner they could, " the bounds for their settlements." 
This opinion he had other reasons for entertaining. The Six 
Nations, whose consequence he never forgot to magnify, would 
never be satisfied " unless the deeds of the Albany purchase " were 
" surrendered up, and the claims founded thereon in a great mea- 
sure set aside ; " the Lenapes were equally determined, testimony 
having been furnished him that they had been heard to declare 
" most solemnly" that " they would never leave off killing the 
English as long as there was one on their lands ; that they were 
determined to drive them all off their lands, naming Minnisink 
almost to the North river east (in the provinces of New York 
and New Jersey) ; also Bethlehem and the lands on a parallel 
line to it west," which the English had cheated them out of. 1 

In this conclusion he was most amply justified by the results 
which had been experienced. Peace had been declared, but no 
exchange of prisoners had taken place, and while Teedyuscung 
himself maintained the truce which had been agreed to at Easton, 
on the Ohio, his allies and kindred spurned the overtures made 
to them and maintained their alliance with the French. Send- 

1 Colonial History , vil, 33 1. 



238 THE INDIAN TRIBES 

ing their emissaries eastward, the latter propagated prejudices 
against the good intentions of the English, magnified the prowess, 
kindness and generosity of the French, and successfully plead 
the wrongs which had been committed against them in the sale 
and occupation of their lands. 1 The Minsis were ready listeners 
to these appeals, and active participants in the hostilities which 
were continued. 2 Indeed, hostilities were not suspended in any 
direction. In August, 1757, says Niles, 3 "one James Tidd 
was scalped in the Minnisinks. About this time, also, one 
James Watson, with James Mullen, went out on some business 
and were fired upon by a party of Indians. Watson was found 
killed and scalped ; Mullen was carried off", as was concluded, 
not being found or heard of. About the 19th of September, 
Patrick Karr was killed and scalped at a place called Minnisink 
bridge. 

" Some time in the first part of October, in Ulster county, 
the Indians fired into the furthermost house in Rochester, and 
killed two women, but were repulsed by two men. 4 Just before 
the other Indians came up, one of the company that was fore- 
most seized a young woman as she was washing at the door ; upon 
which she screamed out ; another woman rescued her, beat off 
the Indian and shut the door. 

"On the 16th of May, 1758, about two clock in the after- 
noon, about thirteen Indians rushed into the house of one Nicho- 
las Cole, on the frontiers of the Jerseys, if I mistake not. Cole 
not being at home, they immediately pinioned his wife, and 
tomahawked their son-in-law, about eighteen years old, and 
dragged her out of doors, where her eldest daughter, about 
thirteen years old, lay murdered, and a boy aged eight, and her 
youngest daughter, aged about four* At last, the poor, helpless 

' Colonial History, vil, 87. 4 The official account states that this raid 

2 History of the French and Indian War, was by a party of Senecas and river (Dela- 

Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., v. ware) Indians. The attack here spoken 

8 " I am inclined to think the Minnisink of, was on the house of Peter Jan, in the 

Indians who formerly lived on those lands, south-western part of Rochester. Jan's 

if not the only are at least the chief per- house was burned and one of his daugh- 

petrators of those hostilities and ravages ters, and two men who acted as scouts, 

which the frontiers of your province and were killed. Jan's wife and two daugh- 

that of New York, have and are daily suf- ters, and himself and two sons who were 

fering." — Johnson to Gov. of Neiv Jer- in the field, escaped. — Documentary His- 

«y> J«ty> *9> l 7S%- tor y> »» 763, 764. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



239 



old woman saw the cruel savages thrust their spears into the 
body of her gasping infant. They rifled the house, and then 
carried her and her son off, after they had scalped the slain 
above mentioned. 

" Soon after they were joined by two Indians with two Ger- 
man captives they had taken that day, and killed and scalped 
another, in one Anthony Westbrook's field, near Minnisink, so 
called, in Susquehanna county, if I mistake not. Not long 
after Cole returned home ; where to his great surprise he found 
his four children murdered, and his wife and other son missing. 
Upon which he went to Minnisink (Napanochj fort, and got 
a few soldiers to assist him in burying his children and the Ger- 
man. The soldiers joined with some of the neighbors that 
evening to cross Delaware river at day-light, and waylay the 
road to Wyoming ; and as four of them were going to one 
Chambers's, about two o'clock at night, they heard the Indians 
coming down the hill, to cross the Delaware, as was supposed, 
when one of the four fired on them. They immediately fled, 
giving a yell after their manner. The woman they led with a 
string about her neck, and the boy by the hand ; who, finding 
themselves loose, made their escape along the road, and happily 
met at James McCarty's house, the boy first, and afterward 
the woman. 

" The daughter of one widow Walling, living near Fort 
Gardiner, between Goshen and Minnisink, going out to pick up 
some chips for the fire, was shot at by three Indians. Her 
shrieks alarmed the people. Her brother, looking out at a gar- 
ret window, and seeing a fellow dispatching and scalping his 
sister, fired at them, and was pretty certain he wounded^one of 
them. The old woman, during this, with her other daughter 
and her son, made off" and escaped. 

" About this time (beginning of June), a sergeant went from 
Waasing 1 to Minnisink with a party of men, but returned not at 
the time they were expected. Upon which a larger party went 
out in search of them, and, at their arrival at Minnisink, found 
seven of them killed and scalped, three wounded, and a woman 
and four children carried off. Near about the same time, in 

1 Wawarsing probably. 



240 THE INDIAN TRIBES 

the frontiers of the Jerseys, a house was beset by a party of In- 
dians, where were seventeen persons, who were killed, as I 
remember the account. A man and a boy traveling on the road 
with their muskets were fired on by some Indians in ambush. 
The man was killed ; but the boy escaped, having first killed 
one of the Indians. Not far from this time — whether before or 
after I am not certain — the Indians killed seven New York 
soldiers. This slaughter was committed at a place called West- 
falls, in the frontiers of New Jersey." 1 

Such is the imperfect record of these hostilities. That they 
were not more numerous is due to the erection, by Governor 
Hardy, in the summer of 1757, of a number of blockhouses 
along the frontiers of Orange and Ulster county, covering 
a distance of thirty miles, 2 and affording a refuge to the 
settlers. At these blockhouses garrisons of regular troops 
or militia were constantly stationed, and moved to the defense 
of more exposed situations. They were far from being a per- 
fect protection, however, and, as already shown, were themselves 
the object of hostile attack. 

There was some excuse on the part of the Indians for the 
continuance of hostilities. The proprietaries of Pennsylvania 
had manifested no willingness to relinquish their claim to the 
lands which they had so fraudulently acquired, nor had New 
Jersey made overtures of restitution. To Johnson's letter to 
the lords of trade, the proprietaries had entered a remonstrance, 
denying that any cause of complaint existed in reference to the 
lands which they held, and at home were unsparing in their 



1 A party of Indians lay in ambush to 
get an opportunity to take the lower fort 
at Mr. Westfall's. They sent two of 
their party to espy it, who discovered that 
there were only two women in the fort. 
While the two spies returned to inform 
their party, a small company of soldiers, 
marching from New Jersey to Esopus, 
came along and stopped at the fort. 
They were scarcely seated before the In- 
dians rushed in and fell on the men with 
their tomahawks. The soldiers fled to 
the chamber from which they shot at the 
Indians, and after a desperate fight com- 
pelled them to retire, though several of 



the soldiers were killed. — History Orange 
County, 381. 

2 ^ From a place called Machakamak 
to the town of Rochester." (Go-v. Hardy's 
Message). Machakamak, is now the 
village of Port Jervis. The blockhouse 
at this point was called Col. Jersey fort, 
and was still standing at the outbreak 
of the war of the Revolution. The 
location of the other blockhouses is not 
marked on Sauthier's map. These block- 
houses were joined on the south by 
those erected by New Jersey of "which 
one was known as Westfall's fort, at 
the lower neighborhood. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



241 



denunciations of the Quakers for having, as they asserted, 
assisted the Indians against the interests of the province. The 
papers forwarded by Johnson, however, were too plain a state- 
ment of facts to sustain them in their position, and the order 
was returned directing him to appoint a commission to make 
an examination of the case. Anticipating the action of this 
commission, the governor of Pennsylvania appointed a confer- 
ence with the Indians at Easton, in October, 1758. Teedyus- 
cung attended as the representative of thirteen nations, 1 assumed 
the position which he had formerly occupied, and sustained 
himself with eloquence and dignity. Finding that nothing 
could be done unless the land question was satisfactorily dis- 
posed of, the proprietaries came forward and surrendered the 
confirmatory deed which had been received from the Six Nations 
at Albany in 1754, 2 and recognized the right of the government 
to arrange the boundaries of the lands included in the treaty of 
1742. A treaty was concluded, after a session of nineteen days. 
All that Teedyuscung had asked was granted ; the boundary 
lines were agreed to ; New Jersey paid the Minsis £1,000 for the 
lands which they claimed in that province, and received a 
concurrent deed from all the Lenape tribes ; an exchange of 
prisoners was agreed to, 3 and peace folded her wing over the 
long harassed frontiers. 

The divisions which existed among the Six Nations, so ap- 
parent in the early stages of the controversy with France, in- 
creased as the war progressed. In April, 1757, the Senecas^ 



1 The tribes represented were classified 
as the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, 
Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras, com- 
prising the Six Nations, the Nanticokes, 
Conoys, Tuteloes, and Chugnuts, of^the 
Susquehannah ; the Lenapes, Minsis, Sha- 
wanoes, Mahicans, and Wappingers of 
the Delaware. In the Wappingers will 
be recognized the families gathered at 
Fishkill in 1756, and in the Mahicans 
the clans of that nation who,se removal 
to the Delaware country had commenced 
in 1730 (ante, p. 194). 

2 Not the deed to the Connecticut com- 
pany. (Documentary History, 11, 775); 
also Colonial History, vn, 388, where 
Johnson says : " Brethren, you have been 



acquainted that at the late treaty at 
Easton, in Pennsylvania, the proprietary 
agents, in behalf of their constituents, 
gave up their claims to the lands on the 
Ohio, which were sold to the proprie- 
taries in 1754, at Albany, and here I 
have in my hands the instrument of 
release and surrender." 

3 It is said that a portion of the pri- 
soners taken by the Lenapes had been 
given to the Six Nations, but the 
confederate title is probably used in this 
as in many other cases when the desig- 
nation should have been specific to have 
properly recorded the fact. These pri- 
soners were returned at Canajoharie, 
April 13, 1759. 



242 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Onondagas, and Gayugas, threw off the disguise of active friend- 
ship which they had professed for the English, and sent a large 
belt to Canada to make peace with the French. " Our promise," 
said they, " to remain firm to the English was given with the 
understanding that the war should be prosecuted vigorously f* 
now that they saw the French victorious on every side, and the 
English army retreating as it were, they considered themselves 
released from all previous obligations and determined to make 
peace^for themselves, and thenceforth to remain neutral. With 
them the victorious party were desired as friends ; besides, so 
many of their number were already in the ranks of the French, 
that those who remained attached to the English had no security 
from destruction but neutrality. 

The advantages of this neutrality were in favor of the French. 
Although by its terms the English were not deprived of any 
numerical force, yet the fact that the confederacy was divided 
irv its allegiance had its influence at home as well as among the 
nations more remote. The Mohawks were compromised by it, 
and became idle spectators to the numerous incursions of the 
French Indians, while to the Indians of the Ohio country it was 
an encouragement to continue their revolt. Eventually it 
drifted into war in behalf of the French ; for the time being it 
was turned by Johnson to the best advantage possible. " As you 
have declared yourselves neutrals," said he to the three tribes, 
" I shall expect you to act as neutrals and not permit either 
the French or their Indians to pass through your settlements to 
make war upon the English, and that you do not directly or 
indirectly give our enemies or their Indians information to our 
prejudice. Should you violate these rules of behavior, we shall 
look upon the covenant chain as absolutely broken between us." 
This promise they gave, and their neutrality was confirmed. 

With war rolling its folds of fire on the north and west, and 
allies within their bosom who were indifferent if not willing 
spectators to its progress, the English had no mean task before 
them to retain their supremacy. At one time, indeed, even 
this seemed hopeless ; 1 but, better counsels prevailing in the pro- 

1 " For God's sake," wrote the officer of Massachusetts, in 1757, " exert yourself 
in command at Albany, to the governor to save a province j New York itself may 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



243 



vinces as well as on the part of the home government, the lost 
ground was recovered and the banners of England floated in 
undisputed possession of Canada. 

In the Ohio country the conflict was continued long after its 
close at the north, and developed the strength of the ties which 
had been formed between the western Indians and the French. 
Usually the first, they were now the last to yield. The Senecas 
joined them ; the Lenapes saw all their ancient wrongs repeated 
and riveted upon them in the success of the English. Already 
had the advanced couriers of the latter penetrated the Ohio 
valley ; here and there in convenient proximity forts had been 
erected to overawe them and protect their enemies. Every 
promise which the English had made having been apparently 
violated, the war-belt of the Senecas invited the nations in the 
French alliance to take up the hatchet in their behalf. 1 

The plot was discovered in time to arrest immediate hostili- 
ties, but not to defeat the formation of a more formidable con- 
spiracy. As the tribes felt the chain of English domination 
drawing closer and closer around them, one among their number, 
Pontiac, the king of the Ottawas, counseled, in the summer of 
1762, the formation of a league to drive the English from the 
continent. The great interior tribes responded. The Senecas 
gave to the movement one thousand warriors ; the Lenapes 
and Shawanoes, nine hundred ; the Mahicans and Wyandots, 
two hundred ; the Ottawa confederacy under Pontiac a num- 
ber equal to their allies. 2 Moving quickly to their work, one 
after another, LeBoeuf, Verrango, Presque Isle, Sandusky, St. 
Joseph, Miami, and Michillimackinac fell into the hands of 
the conspirators. 

fall ; save a country ; prevent the down- Friendly Indians. — Mohaivks, two vil- 
fall of the British government upon this lages, 160 warriors ; Oneidas, two villages, 
continent." — Bancroft. 2 5°j Tuscaroras, one village, 140; Onon- 

1 " I understood and was told by them dagas, one large village, 150; Cayugas, 
(the Delawares) that the breaking out of one large village, 200 — total, 900 war- 
this war was occasioned by the Seneca riors. 

Indians who went about with a bloody Hostile Indians — Senecas, tw» villages, 
belt and tomahawk to all the nations en- 1050; Delawares, of the Ohio, 600 j 
gaged in this trouble " — Manuscripts of Shaivanoes, 300 ; Wyandots and Mahicans y 
Sir Wm. Johnson, vm, 14. near Fort Sandusky, 200 — total 21 50 

2 The following is Johnson's estimate : warriors. — Manuscripts, xxiv, 186. 



244 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



The Mohawks, Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas and Cayugas 
held to their covenant with the English, but only as neutrals. 
Teedyuscung followed their example, having, in a treaty at 
Easton, in May, 1762, fully adjusted his dispute with the pro- 
prietaries. It was his last treaty. The Senecas and the western 
Lenapes were alike offended by his course, 1 and determined to 
advance their ends by his destruction. Resorting to a mode of 
warfare favorite among the Indians and especially calculated to 
serve a double purpose, a party of Senecas, 2 ostensibly on a mis- 
sion of peace, visited Wyoming in April, 1763, and after linger- 
ing about for several days, in the night time treacherously set 
fire to the house of the unsuspecting king, which, with the 
veteran himself, was burnt to ashes. Remaining on the ground, 
they inspired the followers of the murdered king with the belief 
that the work had been done by the Connecticut settlers. Stim- 
ulated by these representations, the infuriated Lenapes fell upon 
the unsuspecting whites, on the 14th, and massacred about 
thirty, drove off their cattle, rifled their stores, and at night 
applied the torch to dwellings and barns, and lighted up the val- 
ley with their destruction. 

The fall of Teedyuscung accomplished the purpose which 
its perpetrators had designed, — the Lenapes were consolidated in 
interest, and the alliances of the Senecas made complete. The 
governor of Pennsylvania sent troops to the scene of conflict, 



1 The Indians went away much dissa- 
tisfied, especially the Six Nations, i. e., the 
Senecas. The Shaivanoes and Delaware* 
left most of their presents on the road to 
the Ohio. — Manuscripts, vi, 144. 

2 Stone and other writers use the term 
Iroquois, implying the participation of 
the confederacy in the transaction, and 
assuming that they were offended at the 
growing power of Teedyuscung. Such 
an interpretation does not correspond with 
the apparent facts. The Indians were 
Iroquois it is true, but it is also true that 
they were Senecas or those engaged in 
stirring up hostilities in the west. Heck- 
ewelder says: " Fearing that he might 
not fall into their measures of joining in 
a new war against the English, they per- 
haps concerted the plan of destroying 
him." Nothing was ever positively 



known. His successor, Netaivatietves, 
held the throne untill 1776, when by his 
death, it devolved upon Coquehagechton, 
alias White Eyes, who, during the early 
part of the Revolution, was distinguished 
for his friendship to the colonists and for 
his efforts to keep his people neutral. He 
died at Tuscorawas (Fort Laurens) of 
small-pox in 1778. "The person on 
whom, by lineal descent, the station of 
head-chief of the nation devolved, being 
yet young in years, the surviving chiefs 
Gelellmand, alias Killbuck, Machingive 
Pushis, alias Large Cat, and Tetepachksi 
officiated in his stead." The young king 
was killed in the massacre of peaceable 
Indians by Williamson at Pittsburg, in 
1 7 8 I . — Heckeivelder's Narrative, 153, 
193, 198, etc. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



245 



but the immediate participants in the massacre anticipated their 
arrival and withdrew to Tioga, while the Moravian Indians, 
who had taken no part in the transaction, removed to Gnaden- 
hiitten. Failing to reach the guilty, a band of lawless whites 
determined to punish the innocent, and with a hatred born of 
the pernicious teachings of Church, banded together to exter- 
minate the whole Indian race, tc that the saints might possess 
the land." Sixty in number, these maddened zealots fell upon 
the Canestogoes* a. small clan of Oneida dependents residing 
upon their reservation in the most inoffensive manner, hacked 
their chief in pieces in his bed, murdered three men, two 
women and a boy, and burnt their houses. But few of the 
Indians were at home, being absent selling their little wares 
among the people. On their return the magistrates of Lancas- 
ter collected them and placed them in one of the public build- 
ings for protection. Thither they were followed by the fanatics, 
the building broken open and the massacre commenced. 
"When the poor wretches saw they had no protection, and that 
they could not escare, and being without the least weapon of 
defense, they divided their little families, the children clinging 
to their parents ; they fell on their faces, protested their inno- 
cence, declared their love for the English, and that in their 
whole lives they had never done them any harm, and in this 
posture they received the hatchet. Men, women and children, 
infants clinging to the breast, were all inhumanly butchered in 
cold blood." 2 

The Moravian Indians at Gnadenhiitten fled to Philadelphia, 
and were followed thither by their maddened persecutors, whose 
numbers now swelled to an insurgent army. The governor 
called the troops for the protection of the fugitives ; the Indians 
begged that they might be sent to England. An attempt was 
made to send them to the Mohawk country, but after proceeding as 
far as Amboy, they were recalled. Another season of terror 

1 The Conestogoes are presumed to have when they were sent to Conestoga. 

been the remnant of" the old Susquehan- Their name would seem to have been 

nocks, whose destruction was accom- derived from that of the chief under 

plished by the English of Maryland aided whose charge they were placed. — Gallatin, 

by the Five Nations. They were removed 55. 

from Maryland and settled among the 2 Proud ; see also Life and Times of Sir 

Oneidas until they lost their language, Wm. 'Johnson. 



246 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



ensued, and the governor hid himself away in the house of Dr. 
Franklin. The Quakers were alone equal to the occasion, 
and firmly resisted the intended bloodshed. Persuaded to listen to 
the voice of reason, the insurgents at length abandoned their 
murderous purposes and returned to their homes, and the be- 
sieged Indians again sought rest in the wilderness. 1 

The combination under Pontiac failed, but not from any lack 
of courage and determination on the part of the confederates. 
While maintaining the siege of Detroit, belts, which had been 
sent in all directions by the French, assured the tribes which 
had been in alliance with them that their power had departed. 
The courier who took the belt to the north, offered peace to all 
the tribes wherever he passed ; and to Detroit, where he arrived 
on the last of October, he bore a letter in the nature of a pro- 
clamation, informing the inhabitants of the cession of Canada to 
England ; another addressed to twenty-five nations by name, and 
particularly to Pontiac, and a third to the commander, express- 
ing a readiness to surrender to the English all the forts of the 
Ohio and east of the Mississippi. 2 The next morning Pontiac 
raised the siege, accepted " the peace which his father the 
French had sent him," and departed with his followers, disap- 
pointed but unrelenting. 

The Lenapes and their allies had, in the meantime, performed 
their allotted work. Ruined mills, deserted cabins, fields wav- 
ing with the harvest but without reapers, attested their ruthless 
warfare east of the Alleghanies, while at Fort Pitt they held suc- 
cessful siege. The Virginia troops under Boquet, who had been 
sent out against them, barely escaped destruction. At Edge hill, 
on the 5th and 6th of August, 1763, stratagem alone saved him. 
Taking advantage of the intrepidity of his assailants, he feigned 
a retreat. The allies hurried to charge with the utmost daring, 
when two companies, that had been purposely concealed, fell 
upon their flank \ others turned and met them in front ; and the 
Indians, yielding to the irresistible shock, were routed and put 

1 It is a singular fact, that the actors in consideration that the press did not dis- 

this strange and tragic affair were not of close their names, nor the government 

the lower orders of the people. They attempt their punishment. — Stone. 

were Presbyterians, comprising in their 2 Bancroft, v, 1 33, 1 64. 
ranks men of intelligence, and of so much 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 247 

to flight. The loss to the English of one hundred and fifteen 
men, or about one-fourth of their force, attested the bravery of 
the assailants. 1 

During the winter of 1764, Johnson succeeded in persuading 
some of the warriors of the neutral nations to unite with 
a company of militia under his son, John Johnson, for the in- 
vasion of the Lenape territory. On the 26th of February, a 
company of insurgents, under command of Captain Bull, 2 was 
surprised and made prisoners in their encampment near the Sus- 
quehanna. The prisoners were removed to Johnson Hall, from 
whence Bull and thirteen of his warriors were sent to New 
York and lodged in jail, and the remainder distributed among 
the confederates. Another Iroquois party under Brant, burned 
the Lenape town of Kanestio and six other of their large villages 
lying on the head waters of the Susquehanna. 

Seconding the efforts of Johnson, New Jersey and Connecti- 
cut sent out an army of eleven hundred men to attack the 
Senecas, while Pennsylvania and Virginia contributed a greater 
number to subdue the allies in the Ohio valley. The Lenapes 
fled from their burning villages to the Senecas, and the latter, fearing 
the destruction of their own towns, sent, early in April, a deputa- 
tion of four hundred of their chief men to Johnson Hall to sue 
for peace. The overture was taken advantage of by Johnson 
to gain important concessions. The Senecas were required to 
stop hostilities and engage never again to make war upon the 



1 Johnson pays this tribute to the 
prowess of the Lenapes and their allies : 
" The Ohio Indians begun on the fron- 
tiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the 
communications to the posts, three of 
which, Presque Isle, Verrango and La 
Bceuf, they took immediately. After 
laying waste all the frontiers they invested 
Fort Pitt, and reduced the garrison to 
much danger. Col. Boquet, with six hun- 
dred men and a large convoy, marching 
to its relief, was attacked by only ninety- 
five of them (for I have the best authori- 
ties of white men then with the Indians 
and of several different Indians, who all 
agree that that is the true number), who 
killed about sixty of his people and greatly 
obstructed his march. In short, to pur- 



sue them through their different suc- 
cessful expeditions and depredations 
would be entering into a tedious detail of 
facts well known and still sensibly felt 
here." — Colonial History , vn, 962. 

2 " Made them all prisoners to the num- 
ber of forty-one, including their chief, 
Captain Bull, son to Teedyuscung, and 
one who has discovered great inveteracy 
against the English, and led several par- 
ties against them during the present: In- 
dian war." (Johnson, Colonial History, vn, 
611.) In Memorials of Mora<vin Church, 
1, 252, it is stated that Teedyuscung had 
three sons, Amos or Tachgokanhelle, the 
oldest, Kesmitas, and John Jacob." 
Captain Bull was probably Amos. At 
that time he was thirty-four years old. 



248 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



English, deliver up all their prisoners within three months, cede 
to the crown the Niagara carrying place and allow the free 
passage of troops through their country, and renounce " all in- 
tercourse with the Delawares and Shawanoes," and assist the 
English in bringing them to punishment. As hostages, three 
of their principal chiefs were to await the complete fulfillment 
of the terms. 

When the English under Bradstreet reached Niagara in Au- 
gust, he found no Indians in arms. There the Senecas met 
him, delivered up fourteen prisoners, and asked that the Lenapes 
and Shawanoes should be included in the treaty of April, 1 
Johnson, who had arrived before Bradstreet, agreed to this on 
condition that those tribes delivered up their king and Squash 
Cutter, their chief warrior, and the Senecas left with him two 
of their chiefs as hostages for the fulfillment of the terms. 
With the Ottawas, Chippewas, Hurons, and other tribes under 
Pontiac, peace was also made, although Pontiac did not appear. 
The Indian country was made a part of the royal dominions ; 
its tribes were bound to aid the English troops, and in return 
were promised assistance and protection ; Indian murderers and 
plunderers were to be delivered up ; all captives were to be set 
free and restored, and the families of English settlers assured of 
welcome. 

Not less successful was the expedition under Boquet. A 
little below the mouth of Sandy creek, beneath a bower erected 
on the banks of the Tuscarawas, chiefs of the Senecas, the Le- 
napes, the Shawanoes, and the Mahicans, invited peace. The 
Lenapes delivered up eighteen prisoners, and eighty-three small 
sticks as pledges for the return of as many more. At the junc- 
tion of the White Woman and the Tuscarawas, in the centre 
of the Indian villages, the Shawanoes accepted the terms of 
peace with dejected sullenness, and promised, by their orator, 
Red Hawk, to collect all captives from the lower towns and 
restore them in the spring. 2 

On the 27th of April, 1765, the pledges which had been 
given by the Senecas were redeemed by the surrender of the 

1 Stone, in his Life and Times of Sir dit for his part in this transaction. 
Wm. Johnson, gives Bradstreet little ere- a Bancroft, v, 210, 221. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



249 



Lenape king, Long Coat, and his principal warrior, Squash 
Cutter, who in their turn became hostages for the Susquehanna 
clans. Captain Bull and two of his warriors were released, and 
the remaining prisoners, who had been sent to New York for 
security, were brought up and placed in charge of the com- 
manding officer at Albany until the Susquehanna clans, to whom 
they belonged, should deliver up their prisoners according to 
promise. On the 19th of June the latter appeared with twenty- 
five persons, including even half-breeds, the children of inter- 
marriages with the Indians. The exchange was made ; the 
hostage chiefs departed, and the war of ten years was closed. 1 

The withdrawal of the French brought with it the necessity 
of treaties with the tribes that had been in alliance with them, 
as well as changes in the policy of the English. The task was 
a difficult one. The attachment of the northern and western 
Indians to the French was strong ; the grievances of the Senecas 
and their Lenape allies were aggravated by the peace to which 
they had been compelled and in which they had been forced to 
concede that their lands were a part of the royal dominions. 
In regard to their territorial possessions, their decision in 1748 
had grown into a positive policy, which the English were obliged 
to recognize on the very threshold of negotiations, as well as the 
wide-spread influence which it exerted. T o treaties, submissions, 
and cessions, which recognized any other fact than that they 
were a free people — that they had independent lands, which 
were their ancient possessions — they would give no attention, 
while to proffered protection they replied that they wanted none 
so much as from the English themselves. 2 



1 The treaty of peace was made with 
Killbuck or Bemineo, Long Coat or 
Anindamooky, and Squash Cutter or 
Yaghkapoose, on the part of the eastern 
Lenapes, and was ratified and confirmed 
by Turtle Heart or Aquarsqua, Wieween- 
oghwa, Tedabajhsika, Lenapes of the 
Ohio, and Benavissica, Manykypusson, 
Nanicksah, and Wabysequina, Shawanoes 
of the Ohio. — Colonial History, vn, 738. 

2 Colonial History , vn, 958. Colonel 
Bradstreet, in his " Thoughts on Indian 
Affairs," gives a different view of the 
policy of the tribes. He writes : " Of 



all the savages upon this continent, the 
most knowing, the most intriguing, the 
less useful, and the greatest villains, are 
those most conversant with the Euro- 
peans, and deserve most the attention of 
the government by way of correction, and 
these are the Six Nations, Shawanoes, 
and Delawares. They are well acquainted 
with the defenseless state of the inhabit- 
ants who live on the frontiers, and think 
they will ever have it in their power to 
distress and plunder them, and never cease 
raising the jealousy of the Upper Nations 
against us, by propagating amongst them 



250 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



To appease their demands Johnson had proposed to them in 
1765, to "make a line" which should be recognized alike by 
themselves and the English as a boundary beyond which neither 
should pass. The proposition was accepted, but its execution 
was delayed. Meanwhile the tribes remained morose and jeal- 
ous and at times ready to take up the hatchet. Hostilities on 
{he western border continued of frequent occurrence ; the diffi- 
culties in Pennsylvania, were kept alive by the constantly in- 
creasing .tide of European emigration. Connecticut determined 
to occupy the Wyoming valley, while the fanatics of the Ca- 
nestogo massacre shot and scalped with unrelenting zeal 
the Indian hunters wherever opportunity offered. Smarting 
under these aggressions, the Senecas^ in 1768, by a large belt 
said to the Lenapes and Shawanoes : " Brethren, these lands 1 are 
yours as well as ours ; God gave them to us to live upon, and 
before the white people shall have them for nothing, we will 
sprinkle the leaves with blood, or die every man in the attempt." 
Finding that the matter could no longer be delayed, a conference 
was called at Fort Stanwix and the contemplated boundary line 
established. 2 In the name of the king, Johnson took a deed for 
the territory south and east of the Ohio. In addition to this 
deed, William Trent obtained title to a tract between the 
Kenawha and Monongahela the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, 
one of the Wyoming lands, and George Croghan one confirma- 
tory of two grants which the Indians had given him, in 1766, 



such stories as make them believe the 
English have nothing so much at heart 
as the extirpation of all savages The 
apparent design of the Six Nations is, to 
keep us at war with all savages but them- 
selves, that they may be employed as 
mediators between us and them, at a 
continuation of expense, too often and 
too heavily felt, the sweets of which they 
will never forget nor lose sight of, if they 
can possibly avoid it. That of the Sha- 
wanoes and Delawares is to live on killing 
and captivating and plundering the people 
inhabiting the frontiers ; long experience 
has shown them they grow richer, and 
live better thereby, than by hunting wild 
beasts." — Colonial History, vil, 690. 
1 The reference is to lands then being 



occupied by the English along the Mon- 
ongahela, and the Red Stone creek. 

2 This treaty was concluded Nov. 5th, 
1768. By its terms all the lands north 
and west of the Ohio and Alleghany 
rivers to Kittaning ; thence in a direct 
line to the nearest fork of the west branch 
of the Susquehanna ; thence, following 
that stream through the Alleghanies, by 
the way of Burnett's Hills and the eastern 
branch of the Susquehanna and the Dela- 
ware into New York, to a line parallel 
with Nonaderha creek, and thence north 
to Wood creek, east of Oneida lake — was 
recognized as the territorial domain of the 
Six Nations, Lenapes, Shawanoes, etc. — 
Colonial History, vm, 135. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



251 



of thirteen hundred acres on the Alleghany river. The sum of 
ten thousand dollars in goods and money was paid to the Six 
Nations and their allies, and their possessions in the valley of 
the Hudson, as well as of the Delaware, were known to them 
no more. 

Not only was the policy referred to, with its resultant boun- 
dary, developed by the war, but the position of the Indian na- 
tions was changed. As the representative allies of the English, 
the confederated tribes still had a name, hut in almost all other 
respects their dominion and authority had shriveled up under 
the touch of the contending civilizations as certainly as had that 
of the nations which had earlier fallen under its malign influence. 
Nominally united when the war closed, and maintaining a 
recognized deference to the action and wishes of each other, 
as they had during its continuance, they were nevertheless prac- 
tically divided. The Mohawks, dwelling in the presence of 
Johnson — his own children swelling their ranks 1 — reflected in 
their action the wishes of the English government, or stirred 
up the tribes to mischief with the expectation of rewards as 
mediators ; petted, and perhaps deservedly so, for services which 
had cost them the loss of their ablest chief and a large number 
of their best warriors, they were not the less debauched by 
liquor, enfeebled by disease, 2 and shorn of their prestige ; while 
the Senecas, more manly and generous, less contaminated by 
civilization by their separation from its more immediate influ- 
ence, dictated the policy and controlled all of active force that 
remained among their ancient brethren. As a nation they never 
again appeared in the field as contestants. Power and territory 
alike fell from their grasp at Fort Stanwix. 

Brighter was the record of the Lenapes, and their grand-child- 
ren, the Shawanoes and Mahicans of the west, judged from the 
standpoint of the success which had crowned their efforts. En- 
tering upon the struggle as " poor women" striking their op- 
pressors with " billets of wood," they emerged from it 
" increased in interest and respect," in the opinion of their 
enemies, " their conduct having restored them to the rank of 

1 It is said that Johnson had not less 2 Johnson. — N. T. Colonial History, 
than one hundred children by squaws, vn, 957. 



252 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



men," and given to them an influence not only " very exten- 
sive," 1 but destined in the future to embalm their names as the 
most formidable of the original Indian nations of Hudson's 
river. Their prowess vindicated in the field, their diplomacy 
triumphant in council, their manhood wrung from the unwilling 
hands of civilized and uncivilized foes, they gave to the conflicts 
of the west an impetus which made their name national, and 
grafted it forever upon the politics and history of their native 
land. 

Not lost to the records of this eventful period were the Ma- 
hicans and W appingers of the Hudson. While floating fragments 
from their ranks found new homes among the Mohawks and 
Senecas, swelled the victorious clans of their brethren in the 
west, suffered persecution for righteousness' sake at Gnaden- 
hiitten, or chanted with Montcalm the war songs of the French, 
at Westenhuck, in the valley of the Housatonic, their ancient 
council fire was kept brightly burning and their braves aided to 
give to the English the supremacy of the continent. The 
introduction among them of unselfish and devoted ministers of 
the gospel had restored to them, in a great measure, their 
ancient character, and made their influence felt in the camp and 
in the field, so much so, indeed, that the Mohawks sent to their 
schools their children for instruction, and the Oneidas were 
proud to hail them as brothers. When the war came on, 
Johnson made an effort to raise from their ranks a company to 
aid in the expedition against Crown point, 2 failing only to permit 
Governor Shirley to draw off with his expedition " nearly every 
fighting man among them." 3 After the war they demanded 
restitution from the Abenaquls for the loss of one of their 
number, and delayed the consummation of peace with them 
until 1 762/ After the peace, they revived their claims to lands 
in Albany county, as well as in Dutchess — in the former, 
pressing even west of the Hudson, and in the latter, asserting 
and clearly proving fraud in the sale of the tract now embraced 

1 Johnson. — Colonial History , vn, 953. Colonial History, vill, 452. 

3 Johnson Manuscripts, 11, 86. 4 A warrior was finally sent to them by 

* Stockbridge, Past and Present. "They the Abenaquis to compensate them for 

served as a corps in the late war, and are their loss. — Johnson Manuscripts, xxiv, 

in number about three hundred." — Tryon, 125. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



253 



in the county of Putnam. Failing to secure redress, they 
attempted the forcible ejectment of the settlers, and compelled 
the interference of the military. Subsequently, Nimham, the 
Wappinger king, in company with chiefs from the Mahicans of 
Connecticut, visited England and received favorable hearing. 
Returning to America their claims were thrown into the courts 
and were there overtaken by the Revolution. 

Still clinging to their ancient homes, at the close of the war, 
were considerable numbers of the Esopus and Mahican clans, 
then generally known as " domestic tribes." Of the former 
" Nachnawachena, alias Sanders, chief sachem, accompanied by 
sachems Hakawarenim, Qualaghquninjon, and Walagayhin, and 
twenty-three Indians besides squaws and children," came to 
conference at Kingston, September 7th, 1 77 1 . z They were 
then principally residents of the country back of the Shawangunk 
mountains, and without special usefulness in the contest which 
had decided the future rank of their brethren, the Minsis, in the west. 
Not the last, but the closing record of the English administra- 
tion in reference to them is that by Governor Tryon, in 1774 : 
" T^he river tribes have become so scattered and so addicted to 
wandering, that no certain account of their numbers can be 
obtained. These tribes — the Montauks and others of Long 
island, W appingers of Dutchess county, and the Esopus, Papa- 
goncks, etc., of Ulster county — have generally been denomi- 
nated River Indians and consist of about three hundred fighting 
men. Most of these people at present profess Christianity, and 
as far as in their power adopt our customs. The greater part 
of them attended the army during the late war, but not with 
the same reputation of those who are still deemed hunters." 2 

1 Manuscripts of Sir Wm. Johnson, 2 Colonial History , vm, 45 1. 
XXIII, 4. 



254 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



CHAPTER X. 

The Indians and the War of the Revolution — The 
Destruction of the Six Nations — The last of the 
Mahicans. 

HE hostility of the Indian tribes of the west to the 
colonists, in the war of the Revolution, had its 
origin mainly in the long catalogue of aggressive 
acts which the colonists themselves had committed, 
and against which the tribes had adopted a settled and well 
understood policy, involving resistance to further encroachments 
upon territory which they regarded as their especial domain. In 
their controversies in regard to these encroachments the Indians 
had learned to distinguish between the king of England and 
those whom they regarded as their oppressors, and to assume 
that while the latter were trespassers, the former was a just 
judge to whom they could appeal. The revision of the 
Wyoming deeds, and the establishment of the treaty line of 
1768, they regarded as having been especially directed by the 
former, in acknowledgment of the justice of their claims, and 
this impression was strengthened by the policy which Johnson 
pursued, as distinguished from that which was sanctioned by 
colonial authority. 1 

Unfortunately the colonists made not only no effort to remove 
this impression, but, by their repeated violations of the treaty 
line, kept alive the irritations which its establishment was de- 

1 " His majesty, with great wisdom and since removed not only below the Kan- 
discretion, was pleased to direct that (no hawa, but even far beyond the limits of 
settlements) should now be made below the cession, and in a little time we may 
the great Kanhawa river, with which I probably hear that they have crossed the 
acquainted the Indians, agreeable to my Ohio wherever the lands invite them ; for 
orders, but numbers of settlements had the body of these people are under no 
been made there previous to the cession, restraint, and pay as little regard to go- 
Attempts made since to form others on vernment as they do to title for their 
the Mississippi, and great numbers in possessions." — Johnson, Colonial History 
defiance of the cession, or the orders of the vni, 460. 
government in consequence thereof, have 




OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



255 



signed to remove. The Virginians did not cease to push their 
pioneers into the Ohio valley, while the Pennsylvanians, under 
Franklin, although acting with the consent of the tribes in in- 
terest, were not the less violators of the spirit of the treaty. 
The Virginians, however, openly disregarded the compact, and 
did not scruple to regard the Indians as legitimate prey for their 
rifles, or to commit a succession of outrages more cruel and 
unprovoked than any known to savage warfare. Retaliation 
followed, and what was known as Cresap's war was inaugu- 
rated. The immediate causes of this war may be briefly stated. 
In the spring of 1774, a party of land agents under the lead of 
Captain Michael Cresap, was sent out by the Virginians to 
locate and open up farms in the valley of the Ohio, near the 
present cities of Pittsburg and Wheeling. The Indians remon- 
strated with Governor Dunmore, but instead of heeding them, 
the latter sent word to Cresap that he must be prepared for 
hostilities. Determined to anticipate the Indians in the attack 
which appeared to be imminent, Cresap, on the twenty-sixth of 
April, declared war, organized his party and moved towards the 
Ohio where he killed two Indians, and, on the following day, 
surprised a party of Senecas and inflicted upon them the loss of 
one man. 

Not satisfied with these achievements, the party pushed for- 
ward to attack the encampment of Logan, a Mingoe chief, near 
the mouth of Yellow creek. The expedition was abandoned 
without consummation, only to be transferred to others. 
Opposite Logan's encampment a trader named Baker had 
erected a cabin and engaged in the sale of rum. At this cabin 
a party of flying settlers met, among whom was one Daniel 
Greathouse who acted as their leader. Logan and his Indians, 
it is said, had determined to cut off Baker, 1 and that the latter, 

1 Stone's Life and Times of Sir Wm. sented seven Indian scalps, and stated 
Johnson. The attack, however, appears their having taken them in the following 
to have been wholly without justification, manner : That a number of Indians hav- 
The following is the account given in ing encamped at the mouth of Yellow 
Colonial History, vm, 464 : " Received creek, they with one Grithouse had col- 
information from Captain Crawford and lected themselves at the house of one 
one Mr. Nevill, from Virginia, that on Baker opposite to the said Indian camp, 
their way to this place they met a number and decoyed the Indian men, and two 
of inhabitants settled below this, moving women over to their side of the river to 
off, among whom was a party who pre- drink with them, who, upon finding 



256 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



warned by a friendly squaw to escape, invited the aid of Great- 
house, who organized a band of thirty-two men and crossed the 
river for the purpose of falling upon the Indians ; but finding 
that they were too strong for him, retreated, and, with a show 
of friendship, invited them to an entertainment. Without sus- 
picion of treachery, part of the Indians accepted the invitation, 
and while engaged in drinking — some of them in a state of 
intoxication — were set upon and butchered in cold blood. The 
Indians who had remained at their encampment, hearing the noise 
of the treacherous attack, ran to their canoes to rescue their 
friends. This movement had been anticipated, and sharp- 
shooters stationed in ambuscade, shot numbers of them in their 
canoes, and compelled the others to return. Logan's mother, 
brother and sister were among the slain. 

These transactions were soon followed by another outrage, 
which, though of less magnitude, was not less atrocious. An 
aged and inoffensive Lenape chief, named the Baid Eagle, while 
returning from a visit to the fort at the north of the Kanhawa, 
was shot while r alone in his canoe. Not satisfied with this 
cowardly act, the perpetrator of the murder seized the canoe, 
tore the scalp from the head of his victim, placed the body in 
a sitting posture in the canoe, and sent it adrift down the stream 
to bear to the friends of the venerated sachem the most exas- 
perating evidence of the hostility which had been committed. 
At about the same time, Silver Heels, a favorite chief of the 
Sbawanoes^ was murdered by trespassers upon the Indian terri- 
tory, and in less than a month forty victims were added to the 
rapacity of the whites. 1 These acts thoroughly aroused the 
tribes, and the Lenapes and Shauuanoes^ under Cornstalk, and the 

them intoxicated, fell upon them and them were killed, who dropped into the 

knocked them in the head, and scalped river, and two others they observed fall 

them; that soon after two other Indians dead in the canoe, and the fifth, upon 

came over to see what detained their their landing, they could discover very 

friends, and were served in the same badly wounded so that he could scarce 

manner; that after this the Indians ap- get up the bank." 

peared uneasy, and six of their men were 1 The very critical situation of Indian 

coming across the river to see. after their affairs, occasioned by the cruelties and 

people, who approaching near the shore, murders committed by Cresap, who with 

observed the white people lying in ambush some frontier banditti, causelessly mur- 

for them, and, attempting to return to dered near forty Indians on the Ohio. — 

their camp, were fired upon and two of Colonial History , vm, 471. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



257 



Senecas and M'ingoes 1 led by Logan, threw themselves with fire 
and tomahawk upon the Virginia border. 

The war was nominally concluded in October. Immediately 
on its outbreak Dunmore organized a force of three thousand 
men and marched to the Ohio country. One of the divisions 
of this force, under Colonel Lewis, reached the mouth of the 
Great Kanhawa on the sixth, and was there attacked, on the 
tenth, by one thousand warriors of the western confederacy, 
under Cornstalk, who had determined to anticipate his junction 
with the main army under Dunmore. The battle was a despe- 
rate one, and neither party could fairly claim the victory. The 
Virginians lost their commander, Colonel Lewis, one-half of 
their commissioned officers and fifty-two privates killed, while 
the Indians lost, in killed and wounded, two hundred and thirty- 
three. In the night the Indians retreated. Meanwhile Dun- 
more had pushed on to the Sciota, with the division under his 
command, and was there met by a flag of truce from the In- 
dians proposing to treat for peace. Negotiations were opened, 
and a treaty concluded. 2 But the war did not stop. Boone and 
Bullit, and other pioneers, 3 provoked fresh hostilities and entailed 
upon the colonists the animosities which had been engendered 
in all the long struggle for the possession of the Ohio valley. 

The French traders and priests who remained in the Indian 
country, moreover, contributed in no small degree to keep alive 
the hostile feeling which they had inculcated from the first hour 
of their presence in the Ohio valley. In the conflict which 
they saw was coming, they also saw the hope of a restoration to 
France of the territory which had been lost. Holding their 
head-quarters in the Spanish possessions of Louisiana, they in- 

1 The Mingoes were a mixed people made so by the intermarriages of which 

formed mainly by the intermarriage of Johnson speaks. 

Minsis, Senecas and Shanuanoes. They ac- 2 Cornstalk conducted the negotiations 

knowledged the jurisdiction of, and were on the part of the Indians. Logan was 

ruled by chiefs of the Seneca nation. (iV. not present, but sent to the conference 

T. Colonial History, vin, 517). Brodhead the famous speech which Jefferson pre- 

states that the " Mingoes were the Andas- served in his Notes on Virginia, and 

tes, or Gandastogues, or Conestogas who which has made the name of Logan a 

lived at Conestoga creek, where they were household word. 

settled after their subjugation by the Iro- 3 Daniel Boone, Colonial History, vm, 

quois" (Gallatin, 55), but such does not 395. 
appear to be the fact, except as they were 



258 



THE INDIAN 7RIBES 



vited the northern and western Indians thither and delivered to 
them speeches " setting forth the danger all their nations were 
in, from the designs of the English, who, they said, had it in 
view to possess all their country." 1 From them also came the 
invitation to the tribes to remove further down the Ohio, with 
a view to make their organization more compact and formidable, 
an invitation which Custalaga, a Lenape chief, with one hundred 
of his followers, accepted, and was very soon after followed by 
larger delegations, 2 animated by a common feeling of resistance. 
With the alliance of the Shawanoes and the Mahican clans, the 
Lena'pes were now more powerful than the Six Nations them- 
selves, 3 and, no longer taunted as women, but recognized as 
brothers by them, they prepared to contest the supremacy of 
the colonists. 

The prejudice against the colonists, which was entertained by 
the western tribes, was, as has been already shown, equally bitter 
on the part of the Senecas, over whom Johnson with great 
difficulty maintained even a nominal control, and the feeling was 
largely shared by what were called the Upper nations of the 
confederacy. The Mohawks, Oneidas and Tuscaroras had 
less interest in the western controversy. Under the treaty of 
1768, they had been paid for the lands which they claimed, not 
only in Pennsylvania, but for those embraced in the famous 
Kayaderossera patent on the Hudson, 4 so, long a subject of 
complaint oh the part of the Mohawks-; besides, they were 

1 Colonial History, vm, 396, 404, 507. to all the friends of America, and a de- 

2 Colonial History, vm, 396. After cided enemy to all its foes. He hopes 
the alliance of the colonists with France, that all his children, whom he loves sin- 
this policy was reversed. On the 29th cerely, will take part with their father 
of August, 1779, Count Rochambeau in the war against the English." 

issued to them a proclamation — through 3 " The worst circumstance is that these 
a delegation of Oneidas, Tuscaroras and people have of late become more power- 
Caughnawagas who visited him at New- ful by alliances, and the Six Nations less, 
port — in the following words : " The so that their authority begins to be dis- 
king of France, your father, has not puted at advantage." — Johnson Manu- 
forgotten his children. As a token of scripts, xxii, Nov. 29, 1772. 
remembrance, I have presented gifts to 4 This patent covered all the land lying 
your deputies in his name. He learned between the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, 
with concern, that many nations, deceived extending from Coic falls, near the junc- 
by the English, who were his enemies, tion of those streams, to the third, or as 
had attacked and lifted up the hatchet it is now called, Baker's falls, on the 
against his good and faithful allies, the Hudson, and contained about seven hun- 
United States. He has desired to tell dred thousand acres of land. — Stone's Life 
you, that he is a firm and faithful friend of Johnson, 11, 299. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



259 



more immediately under the control of the English. The 
Mohawks had a blood alliance with Johnson ; the Oneidas and 
Tuscaroras had submitted themselves almost entirely to the 
guidance of the English ministers who had located among them, 
and their every-day associations were of a different nature from 
those of their more westward brethren. Practically, the con- 
federacy was divided, although it still maintained the forms of 
unity and some of its spirit. While against the authorities of 
New York the more eastern tribes had no special complaint, 
their education, from the days of Stuyvesant, had been adverse 
" to the Bostonians," and the feeling was strengthened by the 
persistent determination of the Connecticut people to settle at 
Wyoming in defiance of the treaty of 1768, by which the rights 
of the proprietaries of Pennsylvania were secured. They hated 
them, too, upon general principles growing out of the extirminat- 
ing policy of Church and his followers, and came to sympathize 
with the Indians in the French alliance and to encourage their 
hostilities. 

The great strength of the control which the English had 
over them, however, lay in the personal associations of the 
Mohawks with the Johnson family. To create this influence John- 
son had become an Indian ; his legitimate children had grown 
up with theirs, while those by his mistress, Molly Brant, eight 
in number, were " bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh." 1 
Skillfully was this influence wielded by Johnson and the home 
government. The reduction of Canada had created the neces- 
sity for a reorganization of the Indian department. The 
Canada tribes, as well as those of the west, were too remote for 
that official intercourse to which they had become accustomed 
under the French, and required separate superintendence ; but 
it was also necessary that that superintendence should be con- 
ducted on a basis uniform with that which was applied to the 
confederated tribes. The materials for such an organization 
were already provided. George Croghan had filled the post of 
assistant to Johnson ; Daniel Claus and Guy Johnson, the sons- 
in-law of Johnson, were entirely familiar with the duties to be 

1 The children borne to him by Molly made legitimate by marriage a short time 
Brant, sister of the great chief, were before his death. 



260 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



performed ; their interests were bound up in obedience to the 
directions of Sir William. To Croghan was assigned the charge 
of the Ohio country ; Col. Claus was sent to Canada, with his 
head-quarters at Montreal, while Guy Johnson was made deputy 
in charge of the Six Nations and the neighboring tribes, and 
remained at Johnson Hall. 1 

That there was plan and purpose in this arrangement, there 
is no reasonable doubt. It was no idle boast on the part of 
Johnson, when, in 1 77 1, he wrote that he was confident that 
" in any event that might happen in Europe or in America," 
he could, from the measures he had taken and the influence 
which he possessed, secure and attach to the interests of the 
crown, " such a body of Indians as if not so numerous as those 
opposed," to those interests, would "give a severe check to 
their attempts." 2 Nor were the expectations of the home 
government disappointed in the result, although the great force 
of the plan was lost by the death of Johnson in July, 1774. 3 
When that event occurred, Guy Johnson at once assumed the 
duties of superintendent, 4 with all the prestige which his rela- 



1 Colonial History, vn, 579. 

2 Documentary History , 11, 983. 

3 Sir William Johnson was born in 
Ireland, about the year 17 14. He was 
the nephew of Sir Peter Warren, the 
commodore who was distinguished in the 
attack onLouisburgh, Cape Breton, 1745. 
Sir Peter married a lady (Miss Watts) in 
New York, purchased large tracts of land 
upon the Mohawk, and about 1734, 
young Johnson was induced to come to 
America and take charge of his uncle's 
affairs in that quarter. He learned the 
Indian language, adopted their manners, 
and by fair trade and conciliatory conduct, 
won their friendship and esteem. He 
built a large stone mansion on the 
Mohawk, about three miles west of 
Amsterdam, where he resided for twenty 
years, previous to the erection of Johnson 
Hall at Johnstown, where he resided at 
the time of his death. He was never 
given credit for great military skill or 
personal bravery, and was more expert 
in intriguing with the Indians, than in 
leading disciplined troops boldly into ac- 
tion. For his success at Lake George, 
he was made major general and a knight. 



His first wife was a Dutch girl, for whom, 
it is said, he gave five pounds for payment 
of her passage money to the captain of 
the emigrant ship in which she came to 
this country. By her he had one son, 
John, and two daughters who married 
respectively Daniel Claus, and Guy John- 
son. When she was on her death-bed, 
Sir William was married to her in order 
to legitimate her children. After her 
death her place was supplied by Molly 
Brant, sister of Joseph, the Mohawk 
chief, by whom he had eight children. 
She was a very sprightly and beautiful 
squaw when he took her to his mansion 
as his mistress. Toward the close of his 
life he married her in order to legitimate 
her children. He died of disease of the 
heart, while attending the conference 
with the Indians stated in the text, July 
nth, 1774, aged 60 years. — Lossing 1, 
232, 287 ; Stomas Life and Times of Sir 
William Johnson, etc. 

4 He was commissioned to fill the va- 
cancy in September, but performed the 
duties of superintendent in the interim by 
virtue of his appointment as deputy. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



261 



tionship to his predecessors inspired, combined with the support 
of Sir John Johnson, who succeeded to his fathers's title and 
estate, and that of Molly Brant, and Thayendanegea, her 
brother — the Joseph Brant of the Revolution — then a pro- 
minent chief of the upper Mohawk castle, who was made his 
secretary. 

Against these controlling influences the colonists could not 
only array that which had been acquired by individuals through 
personal intercourse with the Indians, and that which had been 
gained by the labors of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland and the Rev. 
James Dean, missionaries to the Oneidas and T us car or as. 1 The 
extent of these influences was considerable — especially that ex- 
ercised by the missionaries named — but nevertheless was en- 
tirely inadequate to compensate for that which was wielded by 

1 James Dean. — The history of this 
individual, and his agency in many of the 
events transpiring previous to and during 
the revolutionary war, would form a vo- 
lume of deeply interesting and most thrill- 
ing incidents. He was a native of New 
England and educated with special refer- 
ence to missionary labor among the In- 
dians, with whom he lived many years from 
his youth. At the outbreak of the war he 
was stationed at Oghkwaga, where he 
made no attempt to conceal his views 
from the Indians. In 1774, he was em- 
ployed by the Continental congress to 
visit the New York and Canada tribes to 
ascertain the part they would probably 
take in the contest. For this purpose he 
assumed the disguise of an Indian trader 
and, supplied with goods, accomplished 
the object of his mission. An adopted 
son of the Oneidas, and regarded by them 
with more than parental affection, his 
influence over them was especially con- 
spicuous. He was subsequently appointed 
to the office of Indian agent, and during 
the whole war of the revolution he con- 
tinued his services to the country in that 
capacity. A very considerable portion of 
the war he was stationed at FortStanwix, 
and by virtue of his office, superintended 
the intercourse with the Indians. At 
the close of the war the Oneidas granted 
him a tract of land two miles square, 
lying on the Wood creek west of Rome, 
to which he removed in 1784. Here he 
continued two years, when he effected an 



exchange with the nation for the tract of 
land lying in Westmoreland, known as 
Dean's patent, to which he removed, and 
where he continued to reside until his 
death in September, 1832.— Stone's Life 
of Brant, 1, Appendix. 

Samuel Kirkland. — This distin- 
guished missionary was born at Norwich, 
Conn., 1742. After a special education 
for "the work, he was sent to Oneida 
Castle, in 1766, and continued to labor 
among that tribe for forty years. During 
the revolutionary war he was in the pay 
of the United States, and in 1779, was 
brigade chaplain in General Sullivan's 
campaign against the Indians of western 
New York. After the peace he re- 
mained among the Oneidas, and in 1788, 
assisted at the great Indian council for the 
extinction of their title to the Genesee 
country. So sensible was the state go- 
vernment of the value of his services, that 
in the year 1789, it granted him a tract 
of land two miles square in the present 
town of Kirkland, whither he imme- 
diately removed, and where he subse- 
quently made a liberal endowment of 
land for the purpose of founding a school 
which was originally called Hamilton 
Oneida Academy, subsequently incorpo- 
rated under the name of Hamilton Col- 
lege. After a life of much public useful- 
ness, he at length departed this life on the 
28th of February, 1808. — Note, Colonial 
History, vm, 63 1 ; Jones's History of 
Oneida County. 



262 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



the Johnsons. Had Guy Johnson possessed the shrewdness 
and skill of his predecessor, the result, so far as the Six Nations 
were concerned, would not have been doubtful ; but in that 
which he gained by his position, he was seriously compromised 
by the superior diplomacy of the colonists. 

Both parties moved with caution. While Johnson was un- 
remitting in his endeavors to preserve the good will and affection 
of the Six Nations, the colonists lost no time in instructing them 
in regard to the nature of the controversy, and in advising them 
to act as neutrals. With a very considerable portion of the 
Six Nations neutrality had long been an established policy, and 
gained for the colonists not only an attentive ear, but compelled 
Johnson to adopt it as the course which he wished them to 
pursue. To the declarations of Dean and Kirkland, and to 
the belts which the faithful Mahicans sent to all the tribes 
advising neutrality — that the "dispute did not concern the In- 
dians ; that it arose from the crown's endeavors to obtain a 
large reimbursement for the expenses of the late war, which 
the colonists could not comply with, and therefore an army was 
sent to compel them" — Johnson found it necessary to reply 
that the " dispute was solely occasioned by some people who, 
notwithstanding the king's law, would not permit some tea to 
land, but destroyed it ;" that the matter was one with which 
they had " nothing to do," any more than they had C£ with the 
foolish people" who talked to them about that " which they 
themselves did not understand." 1 Thus urged, the Six Nations 
in general council at Onondaga, resolved to have " nothing to 
do with the axe, but to support their engagements." 

This action left the Johnsons with nothing but their personal 
influence and official relations, but these they believed, and 
not without reason, were sufficient to control to a great extent 
the action of the tribes. The well-founded suspicions of the 
integrity of the Johnsons, which the colonists entertained, 
brought the issue to a culmination much sooner than they had 
intended. The committee of safety of Tryon county, early 
in 1775, set a strict watch upon their movements, and when, 
in May, Guy Johnson received secret instructions from General 

1 Colonial History, yni, 538, 557. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



263 



Gage, requiring him to report himself at Montreal for instruc- 
tions, he professed alarm for his personal safety and appealed 
to his retainers among the Indians to induce the Six Nations 
to take upon themselves his protection. Gathering together 
a company of tories, among whom John and Walter N. Butler 
were prominent, and accompanied by Brant and a portion of 
the Mohawks, he fled to Oswego, where he held a conference 
with the tribes, and from thence pushed on to Montreal, where, 
in July^ he met the Indians of the northren confederacy, seven- 
teen hundred in number. 1 Whether his fears were well 
founded or not, the movement was an adroit one. Wherever 
he met the Indians he urged upon their consideration the attack 
which had been made upon himself, and appealed to the memory 
of his father-in-law, and to his associations with them, to pro- 
tect Sir John, and to induce them to become his followers; yet 
he still insisted that his mission was that of peace, and that the 
Indians should maintain their neutrality. 

Such was the condition of affairs when, in July, the Conti- 
nental congress resolved to establish three departments of Indian 
affairs, the northern, middle and southern, " with powers to 
treat with the Indians in their respective departments, to pre- 
serve peace and friendship, and to prevent their taking any part in 
the present commotion. " 2 In accordance with this resolution, 
the commissioners for the northern department 3 held a council 
with chiefs of the Six Nations at German Flats on the fifteenth 
of August, but the attendance being limited, adjourned it to 
Albany, where, on the twenty- fourth, its proceedings were con- 
cluded. At this conference the commissioners recited the 
grievances of which the colonists complained, and against which 
they had resolved to take up arms, and advised the Indians to 
observe neutrality. "This is a family quarrel between us and 
old England," said they ; " you Indians are not concerned in 
it. We don't wish you to take up the hatchet against the king's 

^Colonial History, vin, 636. a The commissioners for the northern 

2 It was not until a year later that con- department were Gen. Philip Schuyler, 

gress authorized the employment of In- Major Joseph Hawley, Turbot Francis, 

dians. Those who acted with the colo- Oliver Wolcott and Volkert P. Douw. 

nial forces prior to that time were enlisted The department included the Six Nations 

by the colonies in their independent capa- and all other tribes to the northward of 

city. them. 



264 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



troops ; we desire you to remain at home, and not join either 
side, but keep the hatchet buried deep. In the name and behalf 
of all our people, we ask and desire you to love peace and 
maintain it, and to love and sympathize with us in our trouble, 
that the path may be kept open with all our people and yours, 
to pass and repass without molestation. " 

" You told us it was a family quarrel/' said Abraham, the 
venerable chief of the upper Mohawk castle, 1 in reply ; " and 
that we should sit still, and mind nothing but peace. Our great 
man, Colonel Johnson, did the same at Oswego ; he desired 
us to sit still likewise. You likewise desired us that if application 
should be made to us by any of the king's officers, we would 
not join them. Now, therefore attend, and apply your ears 
closely. We have fully considered this matter. The resolu- 
tions of the Six Nations are not to be broken or altered. 2 When 
they resolve, the matter is fixed. This chain is the determina- 
tion of the Six Nations not to take any part, but as it is a family 
affair, to sit still and see you fight it out. We beg you to receive 
this as infallible, it being our full resolution ; for we bear as 
much affection for the king of England's subjects on the other 
side of the water, as we do for you upon this island. It is a 
long time since we came to this resolution. It is the result of 
mature deliberation. It was our declaration to Colonel Johnson. 
We told him we should take no part in the quarrel, and hoped 
neither side would desire it. The resolutions of the Six Nations 
are not to be broken." 3 

While there can be no reasonable doubt that the determina- 
tion of the Six Nations was fairly expressed by the speaker, its 
announcement was not without qualifications. The Wyoming 
lands, he insisted, the tribes regarded as belonging to the pro- 
prietaries of Pennsylvania, and desired that the settlement which 

Abraham was the brother of Hen- History, vu, 115). He subsequently fol- 

drik (Colonial History). He originally lowed the fortunes of the Johnsons, but 

represented the lower Mohawk castle, died soon after the opening of the Revo- 

and was known as Little Abraham, lution. 

On the death of Hendrik, he became 2 Referring to the action of the 

chief sachem of Canajoharie or the up- council at Onondaga. — Colonial History, 

per Mohawk castle 5 Young Abra- vm, 556. 

ham, as he was called, succeeded to the 3 Proceedings of conference. — Colonial 

lower Mohawk castle, and Seth History, vm, 605, etc. 
became chief of the Schoharies [Colonial 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



265 



they had made in 1768 should be held as valid against the 
Connecticut people. 1 The commissioners had expressed the 
determination of the colonists " to drive away, kill and destroy 
all who appeared in arms " against them. " We beg you to 
take care what you do," said Abraham ; " there are many 
around us who are friends to the king. As to your quarrels to 
the eastward along the sea coasts, do as you please. But it 
would hurt us to see those brought up in our bosoms ill-used. 
In particular we would mention the son of Sir William Johnson. 2 
He was born among us, and does not intermeddle in public dis- 
putes. We would likewise mention our father the missionary 
who resides among the Mohawks. The king sent him to them, 
and if he was removed, they would look upon it as taking away 
one of their own body." Then the people of Albany had taken 
from them two pieces of land, " without any reward, not so 
much as a single pipe they should be restored. " If you 
refuse to do this, we shall look upon the prospect to be bad ; 
for if you conquer, you will take us by the arm and pull us all 
off." 

Whatever may have been the precise character of the instruc- 
tions which Guy Johnson received from General Gage, there 
is no doubt in regard to those which were issued to him by the 
ministry, and which he received after his arrival in Montreal. 
These instructions were under date July 5th and July 24th. 
In the former he was advised to inform the Indians that in con- 
sequence of the " unnatural rebellion" which had broken out, 
the " immediate consideration" of the grievances of which they 

1 Connecticut claimed by virtue of the property confiscated, his family in exile, 
boundaries of its original charter. The he became an uncompromising enemy 
deed which they had received was set to the patriots, and exerted his influence 
aside in the agreement of 1768. against them until the close of the war. 

2 John Johnson was the son of Sir Soon after the close of the war he went 
William by his first wife. He was born to England, and, on returning in 1785, 
in 1742, and succeeded his father to his settled in Canada. He was appointed 
title and estates in 1774. He was not superintendent and inspector general of 
as popular as his father, being less social Indian affairs in North America, and for 
and less acquainted with human nature, several years he was a member of the 
His official relations to the parent govern- legislative council of Canada. To com- 
ment, and his known opposition to the pensate him for his losses, the British go- 
rebellious movements of the colonies, vernment made him several grants of 
ca used him to be strictly watched, and, lands. He died, at the house of his 
as we have noted in the text, not without daughter, Mrs. Bowers, at Montreal, in 
just cause. Expelled from his estate, his 1830, aged 88 years. — Lossing, 1, 285. 



266 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



had complained was defeated, but that they should ultimately be 
protected and preserved in all their rights ; while in the latter 
he was told that, as they had already " hinted that the time 
might possibly come when the king, relying upon the attach- 
ment of his faithful allies, the Six Nations, might be under the 
necessity of calling upon them for their aid and assistance," 
that time had now come ; that he should " lose no time in 
taking such steps" as might be necessary " to induce them to 
take up the hatchet against his majesty's rebellious subjects," 
and that he should " engage them in his majesty's service" 
upon such plan as would be suggested to him by General Gage. 
The course to be pursued in carrying out this plan was left 
to Johnson, but with the specific instruction that he should 
" not fail to exert every effort to accomplish it, and to use the 
utmost dilligence and activity in the execution of the order." 1 

Entering upon the duties assigned to him with a zeal sharp- 
ened by the seizure of his property in the Mohawk valley, 
Johnson nevertheless found his efforts to control the Six Nations 
obstructed by the action of the council of Onondaga in favor 
of neutrality, as well as by the success of the colonists in the 
reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown point, and although 
Brant and his Mohawks still adhered to him, his recruits were 
principally confined to enlistments from the Canada tribes. 
When Montgomery attacked Quebec, he claimed to have 
had over four hundred Indians in encampment, but of that 
number only ninety were participants in the engagement. The 
retreat of the Americans and the subsequent capture of Ethan 
Allen inspirited his recruits for a short time, but by the middle 
of October scarce one of his dusky followers remained. 

Even Brant was lukewarm and indifferent. The pledge of 
the tribes was sacred and could not be easily broken, even by 
one so firmly bound to the fortunes of the Johnsons. Be- 
sides, he was thoroughly schooled in the selfish politics of his 
predecessors, and would have positive assurances of com- 
pensation for his services. In this emergency, the plan resorted 
to in 1 7 10 was adopted. Brant was sent to England; was 
there feasted and honored as his pred jcessors had been, and like 

1 Colonial History, vm, 596. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



267 



them returned to the tribes pledged to do the bidding of his 
royal master. Reaching Canada in the winter of 1776, he at 
once entered upon the work of organizing a force of Iroquois 1 
to operate upon the borders of New York and Pennsylvania, in 
conjunction with the operations of the western confederacy. 
The field had been as well prepared for him as possible. Sir John 
Johnson, the last of the patrons of his family, had fled from his 
parole of honor, and taken refuge in Montreal, and whatever 
regard the confederates had for his father had been fully 
aroused, while the tories had been active in prejudicing the 
colonists. 

In the spring of 1777, Brant appeared at Oghkwaga with a 
retinue of warriors. He had not yet committed any act of hos- 
tility within the borders of New York, yet none doubted his 
intentions. In June he ascended the Susquehanna to Una- 
dilla, with about eighty warriors, and requested an interview 
with the Rev. Mr. Johnstone of the Johnstone settlement. He 
declared that his object was to procure food for his famished 
people, and that if it was not furnished, the Indians would take it 
by force. Mr. Johnstone sounded him in regard to his purposes, 
and the chief told him, without reserve, that he had made a 
covenant with the king, and was not inclined to break it. The 
people supplied hirn with food, but the marauders not satisfied, 
■drove off a large number of cattle, sheep, and swine. As 
soon as they departed, not feeling safe in their remote settle- 
ment, the whites abandoned it, and took refuge in Cherry 
Valley. Some families in the neighborhood of Unadilla fled 
to the German Flats, and others to Kingston and Newburgh on 
the Hudson. 

For the purpose of obtaining more positive information in 
regard to the intentions of the Indians, General Herkimer was 
instructed to visit Brant at Unadilla. Herkimer took with him 
three hundred Tryon county militia, and invited Brant to meet 
him. This the chief agreed to. It was a week after Her- 
kimer arrived at Unadilla, however, before Brant made his 

1 " Joseph, since his arrival from Eng- America, in Indian matters, and deserves 
land, has showed himself the most zealous to be noticed as such." — Colonel Claus, 
and faithful subject his majesty can have in Colonial History, vm, 724. 



268 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



appearance. He came accompanied by five hundred warriors. 
Neither party had confidence in the other, and it was finally 
agreed that their accompanying forces should encamp within 
two miles of each other, and that the principals to the confer- 
ence should, with a few of their followers, meet in an open 
field. These preliminaries being adjusted, the conference was 
opened. In reply to Herkimer's inquiries, Brant declared, 
" that the Indians were in concert with the king, as their fathers 
had been ; that the king's belts were yet lodged with them, and 
they could not violate their pledge ; that Herkimer and his fol- 
lowers had joined the Boston people against their sovereign ; 
that although the Boston people were resolute, the king would 
humble them ; that General Schuyler was very smart on the 
Indians at German Flats, 1 but at the same time was not able 
to afford them the smallest article of clothing ; and finally, 
that the Indians had formerly " made^ war on the white people 
when they were all united, and as they were now divided, the 
Indians were not frightened." He also told Herkimer that a 
path had been opened across the country to Esopus, for the 
tories of Ulster and Orange to join them. 2 

A few days after this conference, Brant withdrew his warriors 
from the Susquehanna, and joined Sir John Johnson and 
Colonel John Butler, who had collected a b6dy of tories and 
refugees at Oswego, 3 preparatory to a descent upon the Mo- 
hawk and Schoharie settlements. There Guy Johnson, and 
other officers of the British Indian department, summoned a 



lr The conference of July, 1775. 

3 CampbclPs Annals of Tryon County, 
Claus tells the brazen story that Herki- 
mer " had three hundred men with him 
and five hundred more in the distance," 
and that " Brant, who had not two hun- 
dred men, after resolutely declaring that 
he was determined to act for the king," 
obliged Herkimer to retreat "with mere 
menaces, not having twenty pounds of 
powder among his party." ( Colonial His- 
tory, vm, 7 20. ) It was by such stories 
that the Indian ring managed to give a 
consequence to the Six Nations which 
they did not possess. 

3 In 1722, under the direction of Go- 
vernor Burnet, a trading house was 



erected at Oswego, on the east side of 
the river. In 1726, in order to prevent 
the encroachments of the French, Go- 
vernor Burnet erected old Fort Oswego, 
on the west side of the river. In 1755, 
Fort Ontario was constructed, on the east 
side of the river, under the direction of 
Governor Shirley. On the 14th of Au- 
gust, 1756, both these forts, with a' gar- 
rison of 1600 men, and a large quantity 
of ammunition, were surrendered to the 
French, under Montcalm. The forts 
were returned to the English under the 
treaty of peace of 1763. They were sur- 
rendered to the United States, by the 
British government, under the treaty 
of 1794. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



269 



grand council of the Six Nations, who were invited to assemble 
" to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a Bostonian in other 
words, to feast on the occasion of a proposed treaty of alliance 
against the patriots, who were denominated Bostonians as a 
special appeal to the prejudices of the Indians. There was a 
pretty full attendance at the council, but a large portion of the 
sachems adhered faithfully to their covenant of neutrality, and 
it was not until the British commissioners appealed to their 
avarice that their sense of honor was overcome. The con- 
tract was closed by the distribution of scarlet clothes, beads,' and 
trinkets, in addition to which each warrior was presented a brass 
kettle, a suit of clothes, a gun, a tomahawk and a scalping knife, 
a piece of gold, a quantity of ammunition, and a promise of a 
bounty upon every scalp he should bring in. 1 Brant was ac- 
knowledged as a war captain, and soon after commenced his 
career of blood upon the borders. 

Meanwhile the attention of the colonists had not been entirely 
devoted to the Six Nations. In April, 1774, the Provincial 
congress of Massachusetts sent a message to the Mahicans and 
W appingers 2 at Westenhuck, apprising them of the gathering 
tempest, and expressing a desire to cultivate a good understand- 
ing with them. In reply, Captain Solomon Wa-haun-wan-wau- 
meet visited Boston on the eleventh of April, and delivered the 
following speech : 

" Brothers : We have heard you speak by your letter ; we 
thank you for it ; we now make answer. 

u Brothers : You remember when you first came over the 
great waters, I was great and you was very little, very small. 
I then took you in for a friend, and kept you under my arms, 
so that no one might injure you ; since that time we have ever 
been true friends ; there has never been any quarrel between us. 
But now our conditions are changed. You are become great 

1 See Life of Mary Jamhon. This birth. At the council here spoken of 

pamphlet was written in 1823, and pub- she was present with her husband.— 

lished by James D. Bemis, of Canandai- Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution, 

gua, N. Y. She was taken a captive 1, 239. 

near Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg) 2 This message was addressed "To 

when a child, and was reared among the Optain Solomon Ahhannuauwaumut, 

Indians. She married a chief and be- chief sachem of the Moheakounuck 

came an Indian in every particular, except Indians." He died in 1777. 



270 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



and tall. You reach the clouds. You are seen all around the 
world, and I am become small, very little. I am not so high 
as your heel. Now you take care of me, and I look to you 
for protection. 

" Brothers : I am sorry to hear this great quarrel between you 
and old England. It appears that blood must soon be shed to 
end this quarrel. We never till this day understood the founda- 
tion of this quarrel between you and the country you came from. 

" Brothers : Whenever I see your blood running, you will 
soon find me about to revenge my brother's blood. Although 
I am low and very small, I will gripe hold of your enemy's 
heel, that he cannot run so fast, and so light, as if he had nothing 
at his heels. 

" Brothers : You know I am not so wise as you are, there- 
fore I ask your advice in what I am now going to say. I have 
been thinking, before you come to action, to take a run to the 
westward, and feel the mind of my Indian brethren, the Six 
Nations, and know how they stand — whether they are on your 
side or for your enemies. If I find they are against you, I will 
try to turn their minds. I think they will listen to me, for they 
have always looked this way for advice, concerning all important 
news that comes from the rising of the sun. If they hearken 
to me, you will not be afraid of any danger behind you. How- 
ever their minds are affected you shall soon know by me. Now 
I think I can do you more service in this way, than by march- 
ing off immediately to Boston, and staying there ; it may be a 
great while before blood runs. Now, as I said you are wiser 
than I ; I leave this for your consideration, whether I come 
down immediately or wait till I hear some blood is spilled. 

" Brothers : I would not have you think by this that we are 
falling back from our engagements. We are ready to do any 
thing for your relief, and shall be guided by your councils. 

" Brothers : One thing I ask of you, if you send for me to 
fight, that you will let me fight in my own Indian way. I am 
not used to fight English fashion, therefore you must not expect 
I can train like your men. Only point out to me where your 
enemies keep and that is all I shall want to know." 

Two days afterwards the congress made the following reply : 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



271 



" Brothers : We this day, by the delegate from Stockbridge, 
first heard of your friendly answer to our speech to you by 
Captain William Goodrich, which answer we are told you made 
to us immediately by a letter, which we have not yet received. 
We now reply. 

"Brothers: You say that you were once great, but that you 
are now little ; and that we were once little and are now great. 
The Supreme Spirit orders these things. Whether we are 
little or great, let us keep the path of friendship clear, which 
our fathers made and in which we have both traveled to this 
time. The friends of the wicked counselors of our king fell 
upon us, and shed some blood soon after we spake to you last 
by letter. But we, with a small twig killed so many, and 
frightened them so much, that they have shut themselves up in 
our great town called Boston, which they have made strong. 
We have now made our hatchets, and all our instruments of 
war, sharp and bright. All the chief counselors, who live on 
this side the great water, are sitting at the grand 'council-house 
in Philadelphia ; when they give the word, we shall all as one 
man, fall on, and drive our enemies out of their strong fort, and 
follow them till they shall take their hands out of our pouches, 
and let us sit in our council-house, as we used to do, and as our 
fathers did in old times. 

" Brothers : Though you are small yet you are wise. Use 
your wisdom to help us. If you think it best, go and smoke 
your pipe with your Indian brothers toward the setting sun, and 
tell them of all you hear and all you see ; and let us know what 
their wise men say. If some of you young men have a mind to 
see what we are doing, let them come down and tarry among 
our warriors. We will provide for them while they are here. 

" Brothers : When you have any trouble, come and tell it to 
us, and we will help you." 

The occasion for the services of the Mahicans was not long 
delayed. When the alarm came up from Lexington, a year 
later, they took the field, and participated in the battle of 
Bunker Hill on the seventeenth of June. From thence Cap- 
tain Solomon, or Captain Hendrik as he was subsequently 
known, repaired with his warriors to the council at German 



272 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Flats, and, at its adjourned session at Albany, renewed the 
pledge of his people in language most eloquent. "Depend 
upon it," said the noble chieftain ; " depend upon it we are 
true to you, and mean to join you. Wherever you go, we will 
be by your sides. Our bones shall die with yours. We are 
determined never to be at peace with the red coats, while they 
are at variance with you. We have one favor to beg. We 
should be glad if you would help U s to establish a minister 
amongst us, that when our men are gone to war, our women 
and children may have the advantage of being instructed by 
him. If we are conquered, our lands go with yours ; but if 
you are victorious, we hope you will help us to recover our 
just rights." 1 Wherever the influence of the Mahicans could 
reach, it was exerted among their brethren of the west. Their 
fugitive clans at Oghkawaga, and their associates from the 
Esopus tribes, 2 refused for a time to take up the hatchet against 
the colonists, and held the Tuscaroras to neutrality ; while 
those among the Lenapes, east of the Alleghanies, as well as the 
domestic Lenape clans, joined them in an earnest support of 
the patriots. At White Plains, in October, 1776, their united 
war-cry, " Woach, Woach, Ha, Ha, Hach, Woach ! " rang out 
as when of old they had disputed the supremacy of the Dutch, 
and their blood mingled with that of their chosen allies. 3 

Active hostilities brought sifting time to the Six Nations. 
Notwithstanding the efforts of the Johnsons and the pleadings 
of Brant, they were not united in the alliance with the British, 



1 The Mahicans claimed several tracts 
of land, extending even west of the 
Hudson. Their principal claim, however, 
was for a portion of the Livingston patent 
and for lands at Westenhuck. The latter 
they claimed to have leased to the whites 
for a term of years, but had lost the papers. 
The matter has been before the legislature 
of New York several times, but like the 
claim of the Wappingers, has never been 
adjusted. 

2 " We, the head of this place, with 
our brethren the Tuscaroras and some of 
the Onondagas and Ma/iicanders, being 
assembled. * * We hope you 
will give no heed to the false reports that 
are going about, for we assure you, 



brothers, that we are sincerely disposed to 
keep our covenant of peace with you our 
brethren." (Letter to 'Justices of Kingston 
signed by chiefs of Tuscarora aud Esopus 
Indians ). See Proceedings Provincial Con- 
vention of Neiv Tork, i, 803, 805 j II, 
301, 419, 424. To what extent these 
Indians were compromised with Brant is 
not known, but it is quite certain that a 
large number of the Esopus Indians be- 
came his obedient followers. 

3 The Indians were stationed on Chat- 
terton's hill, under Colonel Haslet, and 
were in the heaviest of the engagement 
on the 2,8th of October. — Lossing , s Field 
Book, 11, 822. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



273 



although Brant doubtless drew recruits from all the tribes. 
The Oneidas and Tuscaroras consistently refused to join him ; 
the Onondagas were not at first warmly enlisted in the move- 
ment ; the Mohawks were divided. 1 So far as recognized 
tribal action was concerned, however, it soon became an es- 
tablished fact, that the Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, and 
Senecas, had attached themselves to the king. Of the entire 
confederacy not more than eight hundred warriors took the 
field, under the British, at any time ; but this number, added 
to those from the Canada tribes, and those whose hostilities in 
the west had never been suspended, constituted no inconsidera- 
ble portion of their forces. Could they have been regularly 
enrolled and disciplined, or could their services have been 
depended upon at any time, they would have constituted an 
effective body of men ; but their modes of warfare would not 
admit of discipline, and their habits of living would not permit 
their attendance, in any considerable numbers, except at certain 
seasons of the year. That they were a scourge to the frontier 
settlements, is unquestioned ; yet in no instance does it appear 
that they constituted the entire attacking force, but on the con- 
trary that they were invariably led by tories, whose deeds of 
cruelty outrivaled savage ingenuity, and whose numbers, in most 
instances, was greater than that of the Indians. 

The principal campaign in which the British Indians were 
engaged was that undertaken in 1777, to determine the control 
of the Hudson river. Sweeping down from Canada with his 
powerful army, Burgoyne recaptured Crown point and Ticon- 
deroga, while his auxiliaries, the Indians and tories, attacked 
the defenses more remote from his route. Of these Fort 
Schuyler 2 was the first, against which Colonel Butler marched 

1 The reference is not to the lower telligence to the enemy, and in supporting 

Mohawk castle of which Little Abraham their scouting parties when making in- 

was chief sachem while his brother Hen- cursions," and that " when the Mohawks 

drik lived, but to that known as the joined the enemy," they were " left to 

Praying Mohawks, at the mouth of answer those purposes, and keep posses- 

Schoharie creek, which maintained at least sion of the land" of the tribe. By his 

a nominal alliance with the colonists, or direction they were subsequently taken 

rather observed the neutrality to which prisoners and removed to Albany. — Stone's 

they had pledged themselves. General Life of Brant, n, 40. 

Sullivan, however, believed that they 2 Originally Fort Stanwix. The present 

" were constantly employed in giving in- city of Rome, Oneida county, now covers 



274 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



from Oswego with a motley crew of whites and Indians, 1 un- 
der the commands of John Johnson, Claus, and Brant, and 
united with the forces under St. Leger. 2 The siege commenced 
on the fourth of August, when a few bombs were thrown into 
the fort, while the Indians, concealed behind trees and bushes, 
wounded several men who were engaged in raising the parapets. 
Similar annoyances occurred on the fifth, but formidable opera- 
tions were held in abeyance pending an attack upon a force of 
colonists who were approaching, for the relief of the fort, under 
General Herkimer. To meet this force Butler and Brant were 
dispatched, and at Oriskany was fought the desperate engage- 
ment in which the heroic Herkimer gave up his life. 

Meanwhile a successful sally from the fort had carried con- 
sternation and disgrace into the British ranks. So impetuous 
was this sally, that the camp of John Johnson and his Royal 
Greens was seized ; its valorous commander fleeing without 
his coat, and his tory confederates following at his heels. 
Twenty-one wagon-loads of spoil, five British standards, the 
baggage and papers of Johnson, and the clothing of his Indian 
allies, 3 rewarded the victors. The siege was continued until 
the twenty-second, when an incident occurred which showed 
the unreliability of the Indians, and defeated its further prosecu- 
tion. A half idiot, named Hon Yost 4 Schuyler, a nephew to 
General Herkimer, who had been taken to Canada by Walter 
Butler, burst into the British camp almost out of breath, and 
delivered the story that the Americans, in numbers like the forest 
leaves, were approaching ; that he himself had barely escaped 
with his life, in testimony of which he appealed to his coat which 

its site. The old fort was erected during " During the action (at Oriskany), when 

the French and Indian war of 1755, and the garrison found the Indians' camp 

subsequently became a point of much (who went out against their reinforce- 

importance in transactions with the Six ments) empty, they boldly sallied out 

Nations. with three hundred men and two field 

1 Johnson's Royal Greens. pieces, and took away the Indians' packs, 

3 St. Leger's detachment was sent to with their clothes, wampum and silve* 

Oswego, there to unite with Butler's work, they having gone in their shirts, 

refugees and Brant's Indians, and with or naked, to action. The disappoint- 

them to penetrate the country from that ment was rather greater to the Indians 

point, capture Fort Schuyler, sweep the than their loss, for they had nothing to 

valley of the Mohawk, and join Burgoyne cover themselves with at night, against 

at Albany. the weather, and nothing in our camp to 

8 Colonel Claus [Colonial History, vin, supply them." 

721) gives the following particulars: 4 Jan Joost, John Justus. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



275 



bore the marks of several bullets. The Indians were thoroughly- 
alarmed. St. Leger tried to pacify them, but, mourning the 
loss of over seventy of their number at Oriskany, and appre- 
hensive of further disaster, they broke and fled towards their 
boats on Oneida lake, killing on their way thither many of 
their tory allies, and obliging St. Leger to write that they were 
" more formidable than the enemy they had to expect." 1 

But, while conducting the siege, they took occasion to chas- 
tise the Oneidas who had refused to unite with them. After 
the battle of Oriskany, Brant and a party of his warriors fell 
upon the old Oneida castle, burned the wigwams, destroyed the 
crops, and drove away the cattle of his former confederates. 
No sooner had he retreated, however, than the Oneidas retali- 
ated. The residence of Molly Johnson, at the Upper Mo- 
hawk castle, was ravaged, herself and family driven from home, 
and her cash, clothing and cattle taken. From thence the 
avengers visited the Lower castle, and drove the followers of 
Little Abraham, one hundred in number, to refuge in Mont- 
real, laying waste their plantations. Molly fled to Onondaga, 
and besought vengeance for the indignities which she had suf- 
fered, but to her possessions she was never restored ; the 
indignant Oneidas had blotted out forever the seaj:s of power 
from whence her tribe had swayed the destinies of a once 
powerful people. 2 

In the meantime the battle of Bennington had been fought 
with disastrous results to Burgoyne, not the least of which was 
the pall which it threw over the spirits of his dusky allies, who 
now began to find their way back to Canada in large numbers. 
With his defeat at Stillwater, they were as thoroughly demoral- 
ized as they were at Fort Schuyler when frightened by an idiot 
boy. Within three days after that battle, one hundred and 
fifty warriors made their peace with General Gates, accepted 
the war-belt, partook of the feast, and joined the Americans. 
When the final surrender of the British army came, not an 

1 The story of Hon Yost is well told says [ibid., 727), the destruction of the 

in Losiings Field Book. Having lost Mohawk castles occurred after the battle 

their shirts the Indians evidently feared of Bennington, and that the fugitives fled 

that they might lose their skins. to Burgoyne, but the account by Claus is 

2 Colonial History, vm, 725. Johnson the most probable. 



276 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Indian was found in its ranks. For their conduct Johnson and 
Claus had many excuses to offer. The latter charged that 
their " harsh and indiscreet treatment " by Major Campbell, 
caused the greatest part of them to quit Burgoyne ; Johnson 
assumed that at Oriskany they were not adequately supported 
by St. Leger, and that had they been they " would have ren- 
dered more material service ; " but the fact would seem to be 
that they had acted in precise accordance with the course 
which they had pursued in the previous war with France, and 
were ready at all times to court the favor of the party which, for 
the time being, appeared the most successful. The evidence 
of their moral greatness is yet wanting. 

For border warfare, however, the Indians under Brant, who 
were principally composed of Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas and 
Mohawks, were still a power in the hands of the tories, as their 
subsequent ravages in the Mohawk valley, and at Wyoming 
and Minnisink, in 1778-9, sufficiently attest. The path which 
Brant had opened to the Esopus country, in the spring of 1777, 
became indeed a path of blood. Rallying such warriors as 
could be induced to continue in the service of the crown, 
Colonel John Butler succeeded, in the spring of 1778, in organiz- 
ing a force ©f five hundred Indians and six hundred tories, and 
with these made his appearance on the Susquehanna. At Win- 
termoot's fort, on the third of July, the colonial militia, in infe- 
rior numbers, under Colonel Zebulon Butler, opposed his 
progress in a desperate conflict. Retreating from thence to 
Fort Forty, and unable to rally the flying inhabitants to its 
defense, terms of capitulation were agreed to by which the valley 
of Wyoming was surrendered to the mercy of savage white 
men and half-civilized Indians. Foremost in the frightful orgies 
which followed, was Catharine Montour, the Queen Esther 
of the Senecas, a half-breed, 1 who assumed the office of execu- 
tioner, and, using a maul and a tomahawk, passed around the 

1 She was a native of Canada, and her nalized in the wars against the Catawbas. 

father one of the French governors, pro- He fell in battle, about the year 1730. 

bably Frontcnac. She was made a captive Catharine had several children by him, 

during the wars between the Hurons and and remained a widow. Her superior 

the French and the Six Nations, and was mind gave her great ascendancy over the 

carried into the Seneca country, where Senecas, and she was a queen indeed 

she married a young chief who was sig- among them. — Loxsing, 1, 157. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



277 



ring of prisoners, who had been arranged at her bidding, delibe- 
rately chanted the song of death and murdered her victims to its 
cadences in consecutive order. Forts, houses, barns, grain and 
cattle were destroyed. When Butler and his tories withdrew, 
the homes of five hundred settlers had been laid waste, their 
occupants made fugitives, their dead left unburied. Shielding 
their bloody work, with the name of Brant, and throwing the 
cause of the attack on the disaffection of the Indians at the 
occupation of the valley by the whites, Butler and his tories 
have been floated on*the page of history as endeavoring to re- 
strain the ravages which they had instigated. Stripped of their 
disguise, they now stand as the spoilers of an exposed settlement, 
without the excuse which a regularly constituted army might 
offer of harassing an enemy. 1 

Although Butler withdrew his followers from the valley 
almost immediately after the massacre, he nevertheless left 
behind him those who had personal grievances to avenge and 
mercenary rewards to secure. These were mainly fugitives 
from the Esopus clans at Oghkwaga, and tories, who, availing 
themselves of the withdrawal of Count Pulaski and his legion of 
cavalry from Minnisink, where they had been stationed for the 
protection of the frontier, made a descent, on the fourth of 
May, 1779, upon the settlers at Fantinekil in western Ulster, 
killing six of the settlers arid burning four dwelling houses and 
five barns. Colonel Cortlandt's regiment, then stationed at 
Wawarsing, went in pursuit of the authors of the mischief, but 
without success. Scarcely had he turned back, before the town 
of Woodstock was attacked and several houses destroyed. 

Reinforced by Brant in person, the war raged along the entire 
border. In July, Fantinekil was again visited, and the widow 

1 The story of Wyoming has been told Lenapes. That question was satisfactorily 

in all its details by Minor and Stone, and settled by the treaty of 1768. The only 

others, and is repeated by Lossing in his question in dispute was that between the 

Field Book. Notwithstanding the per- Connecticut company and the proprieta- 

sistent efforts of the poet Campbell and ries of Pennsylvania, in which the Indians 

that of the English historians to escape had no part, except as they were influenced 

censure by blackening the name of Brant, by the contestants. The truth of Wyom- 

the fact is pretty well established that he ing can only be written by an analysis 

was almost entirely innocent of the ex- of the actors in the massacre and their 

cesses which were committed. Nor is association with the proprietaries of Penn- 

there better ground for associating with sylvania. 
the transaction the old disoute of the 



278 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



of Isaac Bevier and her two sons, and Michael Socks and his 
father, mother, two brothers, wife and two children, were 
massacred, and the house which they occupied given to the 
flames. At the house of Jesse Bevier the assailants were suc- 
cessfully resisted, although the building was set on fire and its 
inmates exposed to a terrible death. Alarmed, it is said, by a 
faithful dog, settlers two miles distant came to the relief of their 
friends. The tories fled without completing their work, only 
to reappear at Napanoch, where they burned the only house 
standing on the site of the present village of Ellenville. From 
thence they moved to Minnisink, where, on the night of July 
19th, Brant, with sixty of his Indians, and twenty-seven tories 
disguised as savages, stole upon the little town, and, before the 
people were aroused from their slumbers, fired several dwellings. 
With no means of defense, the inhabitants sought safety in 
flight to the mountains, leaving all their worldly goods a spoil 
to the invaders. Their small stockade fort, a mill, and twelve 
houses and barns were burned ; several persons were killed and 
some taken prisoners. Orchards and farms were laid waste, 
cattle were driven away, and booty of every kind carried to 
Grassy brook on the Delaware, where Brant had his head- 
quarters. 

Alarmed by fugitives, Lieutenant Colonel Tusten, of Goshen, 
issued orders to the officers of his regiment to meet him at 
Minnisink the next day, with as many men as they could muster. 
In response to this call one hundred and forty-nine men were 
gathered in council with him the following morning. Tusten 
regarded the force as too small to attempt the pursuit of the 
invaders, but he was overruled, and the line of march taken up. 
On the twenty-first, Colonel Hathorn, of Warwick, joined the 
pursuers with a small additional force, and assumed the command. 
On the twenty-second, Hathorn pushed on to the high hills 
overlooking the Delaware, near the mouth of the Lackawaxen, 
where the enemy was discovered. Brant, who had watched the 
movement, ordered the main body of his warriors to an ambus- 
cade in the rear of Hathorn's force, and when the latter, not 
finding his foes in front as he expected, attempted to return 
from the plain which he had reached, he was met by the fire of 



i 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



279 



his wily antagonist. A long and bloody conflict ensued. Brant 
had the advantage of position and superior numbers ; one-third 
of Hathorn's small force became detached ; closer and closer 
the Indians and their white allies drew their circle of fire until 
Hathorn was hemmed within the circumference of an acre of 
ground, upon a rocky hill that sloped on all sides, where he 
maintained the conflict until the sun of that long July day went 
down. With the gathering twilight the ammunition of the 
militia was exhausted, and, placing themselves in a hollow square, 
they prepared their last defense with the butts of their muskets. 
Broken at one corner, the square became a rout, and the flying 
fugitives were shot down without mercy. Behind a rock on the 
field, Tusten dressed the wounds of his neighbors, while its 
shelter was also made the point from which a constant fire was 
kept up by a negro without his knowledge. As the last shot fell from 
this retreat, the Indians rushed to the spot, killed Tusten and 
the wounded men in his charge, seventeen in number, and com- 
pleted the bloody work which they had commenced. Of the 
whole number who went forth to chastise the invaders, only 
about thirty returned to relate the scenes through which they had 
passed, and to graft forever their traditions of the carnage from 
which they had escaped upon the history of Orange county. 

The attack upon Wyoming and the devastation which threat- 
ened the borders determined the action of congress. In the 
spring of 1779, and while yet the incursions upon the frontiers 
of Ulster county were in progress, an expedition was organized 
to invade the Seneca country, in which the tories and Indians 
held their headquarters, with a view to chastise and disperse 
them. This expedition moved in two divisions, the first under 
General Sullivan by the way of the Susquehanna and Wyoming ; 
and the second under General James Clinton through the valley 
of the Mohawk. The expedition was entirely successful. At 
Tioga the divisions were united, and from thence moved into 
the heart of the Indian country, and marked their pathway with 
blazing Indian villages and blackened harvest fields. " The 
Indians shall see," said Sullivan, " that we have malice enough 
in our hearts to destroy everything that contributes to their sup- 
port," and faithfully was that determination executed. Catha- 



280 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



rine Montour received in part the punishment she merited in 
the destruction of her residence at Catharinestown ; Kendaia 
was swept from existence ; Kanadaseagea, the capital of the 
Senecas, near the head of the lake which bears their name, with 
its sixty well built houses and fine orchards ; Kanandaigua, with 
its " twenty-three very elegant houses, mostly framed, and, in 
general, large," and its fields of corn and orchards of fruit, and 
Genesee castle, the capital of the Onondagas, with its " one 
hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly large and very elegant," 
were alike destroyed. Forty Indian towns were burned ; one 
hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn in the fields and 
in granaries, were destroyed ; a vast number of the finest fruit 
trees were cut down ; gardens covered with vegetables were 
desolated ; the proud Indians, who had scarce felt the touch of 
the colonists except in kindness, were driven into the forests to 
starve and be hunted like wild beasts ; their altars were overturned, 
their graves trampled upon by strangers, and their beautiful 
country laid waste. 

The punishment administered by Sullivan was indeed terrible, 
but was it just? That the projectors of the expedition, includ- 
ing Washington, so regarded it, is well known ; that four of 
the tribes had broken their pledge of neutrality and carried for- 
ward their revenges and prejudices to the account of the inno- 
cent, is also known. That they were the victims of the wiles 
of designing men — had learned their lessons of hatred in the 
earlier controversies between the contending civilizations — was 
as strongly urged in their behalf then as it can be now. Had 
they been without warning, the destruction of their towns would 
have been without justification ; but they had been both warned 
and entreated. In December, 1777, congress had addressed 
to them an earnest and eloquent appeal to preserve their neu- 
trality, and refrain from further hostilities, to sit under the shade 
of their own trees and by the side of their own streams and 
" smoke their pipe in safety and contentment ; " 1 but they 



4 This address recognized the division 
which then existed in the confederacy. 
To the four hostile tribes, it said : 

" Brothers, Cayugas, Senecas, Ononda- 
gas and Mohawks : Look well into.your 



hearts, and be attentive. Much are you 
to blame, and greatly have you wronged 
us. Be wise in time. Be sorry for your 
faults. The great council, through the 
blood of our friends who fell by your 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



281 



would not listen, and grew bold in the supposed impossibility of 
being reached by the government. The visitation which they 
had provoked was a necessity. 

The scourging army passed by the towns of the Oneidas and 
Tuscaroras, and struck its blows where chastisement was most 
deserved. A single village of the Mohawks was spared, 1 con- 
sisting of four houses, the occupants of which were made 
prisoners ; but the torch was stayed by the entreaties of home- 
less frontier settlers who begged that they might occupy them 
until they could procure others, and to them was also given the 
grain, horses and cows, the stores and furniture, of the remain- 
ing followers of Little Abraham, who had found opportunity 
to make themselves obnoxious as informers, if not as active 
participants in the English cause. The council-seat of the 
traditional Atotarho was thrown down, and the council-fire 
of the nation, which had so long been kept burning at Onondaga, 
was put out never to be rekindled on its ancient hearth. 

The offending tribes were astounded. The Onondagas flew 
to the Oneidas for relief ; the Senecas and Cayugas joined the 



tomahawks at the German Flats, cries 
aloud against you, will yet be patient. 
We do not desire to destroy you. Long 
have we been at peace ; and it is still our 
wish to bury the hatchet, and wipe away 
the blood which some of you have so un- 
justly shed. Till time shall be no more, 
we wish to smoke with you the calumet 
of friendship at Onondaga. But, brothers, 
mark well what we now tell you. Let 
it sink deep as the bottom of the sea, and 
never be forgotten by you or your child- 
ren. If ever again you take up the 
hatchet to strike us, if you join our ene- 
mies in battle or council, if you give them 
intelligence, or encourage or permit them 
to pass through your country to molest or 
hurt any of our people, we shall look 
upon you as our enemies, who, under a 
cloak of friendship, cover your bad de- 
signs, and like the concealed adder, only 
wait for an opportunity to wound us when 
we are most unprepared. Believe us who 
never deceive. If, after all our good 
counsel, and all our care to prevent it, 
we must take up the hatchet, the blood 
to be shed will lie heavy on your heads. 
The hand of the thirteen United States 



is not short. It will reach to the farthest 
extent of the country of the Six Nations ; 
and while we have right on our side, the 
good Spirit, whom we serve, will enable 
us to punish you, and put it out of your 
power to do us farther mischief." 

To the Oneidas and Tuscaroras no 
such warning words were necessary. 
" Hearken to us," said the address to 
them : " It rejoices our heart that we 
have no reason to reproach you in com- 
mon with the rest of the Six Nations. 
We have experienced your love, strong as 
the oak 5 and your fidelity, unchangeable 
as truth. You have kept fast hold of the 
ancient covenant chain, and preserved it 
free from rust and decay, and bright as 
silver. Like brave men, for glory you 
despise danger j you stood forth in the 
cause of your friends, and ventured your 
lives in our battles. While the sun and 
moon continue to give light to the world, 
we shall love and respect you. As our 
trusty friends, we shall protect you, and 
shall at all times consider yourwelfare asour 
own." — Stone's Life of Brant, i, 292, etc. 

J The castle of the Praying Maquas at 
the mouth of Schoharie creek. 



282 



7 HE INDIAN TRIBES 



Mohawks at Fort Niagara. 1 Humbled, the former sent their 
chiefs to Fort Stanwix and asked, " Was the destruction of our 
castle done by design, or by mistake ? If by mistake, we hope 
to see our brethren, the prisoners ; but if our brethren, the 
Americans, mean to destroy us also, we will not fly — we will 
wait here and receive our death." "I know the agreement 
made four years ago with the Six Nations," replied Colonel 
Van Schaick ; " I also know that all of them, except the Onei- 
das and Tuscaroras, broke their engagements and flung away 
the chain of friendship. The Onondagas have been great mur- 
derers ; we have found the scalps of our brothers at their castle. 
They were cut off, not by mistake, but by design — I was 
ordered to do it, and it is done." Trembling, the fugitives at 
Niagara, appealed to Haldiman, the governor of Canada : " The 
great king's enemies are many, and they grow fast in number. 
They were formerly like young panthers ; they could neither 
bite nor scratch ; we could play with them safely ; we feared 
nothing they could do to us. But now their bodies are become 
big as the elk, and .strong as the buffalo ; they have also got 
great and sharp claws. They have driven us out of our country 
for taking part in your quarrel. We expect the great king will 
give us another country, that our children may live after us, 
and be his friends and children as we are." 2 

At Fort Niagara they perished in large numbers from diseases 
caused by the absence of accustomed food, and the exposures 
to which they were necessarily subjected. But their hatreds 
grew with their misfortunes. Red Jacket plead with them to 
make peace, without avail ; against the name of Washington 
they wrote that of Annatakaules, the destroyer of towns. 
Still powerful for predatory warfare, they organized anew during 
the winter, and, with Corn-Planter in command of the Senecas^ 
fell upon the Oneidas and Tuscaroras ; burned their castle, 
church, and village, and drove the offenders down upon the 

1 Fort Niagara was erected by the and tories. It was surrendered to the 

French in 1725, and was for many years United States in 1794. 
the seat of the French missionaries. The 2 The authenticity of this document 

English captured it in 1759, when it was has been disputed. The portion quoted, 

rebuilt and regarrisoned. During the however, is a statement of facts, if not 

revolution, it was held by the British, and by the Indians themselves. — Appendix 

became the head-quarters of the Indians Stoned Life of Brant. 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



283 



white settlements for protection. 1 In May, in detached parties 
they renewed their attacks upon the borders of Ulster county, 
plundered the houses of Thomas and Johannes Jansen, in the 
town of Shawangunk ; killed a Miss Mack and her father, as 
well as a young woman from New York then residing with 
them, in one of the mountain gorges, and subsequently reached 
the Hudson in an attack upon the settlement at Saugerties, 
where they made prisoners of Captain Jeremiah Snyder and his 
son Isaac, who were taken to Fort Niagara and from thence to 
Montreal. The convenient instruments of the tories, they 
followed their footsteps wherever they were bidden. 

In the meantime, Sir John Johnson, at the head of a band of 
refugees and Indians, five hundred in number, stole through the 
woods from Crown point and appeared at Johnson Hall. His 
purpose was to remove the treasure which he had buried on the 
occasion of his first flight, and to punish some of his old neigh- 
bors. In both he was successful. Two barrels of silver coin, 
the fruits of his father's honest traffic with the Indians, rewarded 
him ; his attendants lighted up the surrounding neighborhood 
with blazing dwellings, and murdered the defenseless people. 
The village of Caghnawaga 2 was given to the flames, and 
along the Mohawk valley for several miles every building, not 
owned by a loyalist, was burned, the cattle killed, and all the 
horses that could be found taken away. With many prisoners 
and much booty, Johnson made good his retreat. 

During the autumn more formidable operations were under- 
taken. Sir John Johnson, with three companies of refugees, 
one company of German Yagers, two hundred of Butler's 
Rangers, and one company of British Regulars, with Brant and 

1 The fugitives collected together near site is now covered by the village of 
Schenectady, where they remained until Fonda, Montgomery county. The Mo- 
after the war, in active alliance with the hawks who originally occupied it were 
colonists. proselyted by the Jesuits and induced to 

2 This village took its name from that remove to Canada, where they were 

of the ancient Mohawk village called established at a mission called by them- 

Gaudaouague ; by the French, On- selves, in remembrance of their ancient 

engioure, and by the Dutch, Kaghne- village, Caghnawaga. (Brodhcad,n, 129, 

wage. It was in this village that 299. Ante, p. 97). At the time of its 

Father Jogues was so badly treated dur- destruction it was occupied principally by 

ing eighteen months of captivity. Its German families from the Palatinate. 



284 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



Corn planter and five hundred of their warriors, entered the 
Schoharie valley, and although not successful in reducing the 
block-houses which had been erected, nevertheless spread destruc- 
tion along their pathway. Not a house, barn, or grain-stack 
known to belong to a whig, was left standing ; one hundred 
thousand bushels of grain were destroyed in a single day. The 
houses of the tories were spared, but no sooner had the enemy 
retired than the exasperated whigs set them on fire, and all 
shared the common fate. The valley of the Mohawk was 
next visited. At Caghnawaga the buildings which had been 
left standing at the previous visitation, as well as those which 
had been rebuilt, were destroyed, and every dwelling on both 
sides of the river, as far up as Fort Plain, was burned. Murder 
and rapine attested alike the hatred of Johnson for his former 
neighbors and the vengeance of his dusky allies. 

But the marauders were not permitted to again escape with- 
out molestation. Governor George Clinton, having received 
information from two Oneidas, of their movements, promptly 
marched to the relief of the district. A strong body of Oneida 
warriors, led by their chief, Louis Atyataronghta, 1 who had been 
commissioned a colonel by congress, joined him on his way. 
Near Fort Plain the opposing forces met ; Brant and his Indians, 
in a thicket of shrub oaks, were supported by Johnson, while 
the right of the patriot line was held by the Oneidas. The 
defiant war-whoop of the opposing chiefs was echoed by their 
followers ; supported by the militia, the Oneidas dashed forward ; 
Brant gave way and fled, wounded in the heel, to the fording 
place near the old upper Indian castle, crossed the river and 
found refuge in the rear of the reserve forces of his friends. 
Johnson immediately made hasty retreat to his boats on Onon- 
daga lake, and escaped to Canada by the way of Oswego, shorn 
of whatever prestige he had gained on his former raid. 

Similar were the events of 1781. The devastations of the 
invading bands commenced again on the borders of Ulster. In 
August, a body of three hundred Indians and ninety tories fell 

1 It is said that he was the representa- the blood of the French, the Indian, and 
tive of three nations, having in his veins the negro. His bravery was unquestioned. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



285 



upon the settlers in the Wawarsing valley and " burned and 
destroyed about a dozen houses, with their barns," and killed 
one of the inhabitants, " the rest having fled." Colonel Har- 
denburgh, with a force of only nine men, hastened forward to 
the aid of the settlers, and, throwing his men into a small stone 
house, checked the advance of the enemy. In their repeated 
attempts to dislodge him, thirteen of their number were left 
dead upon the field. Colonel Paulding's regiment of state levies, 
together with the militia, was soon on the ground, but not in 
time to punish the marauders, although they were pursued for 
seven days. 

In October the Mohawk valley was visited by Major Ross 
and Walter N. Butler at the head of about one thousand troops, 
consisting of regulars, tories and Indians. The settlement 
known as Warren Bush was broken into so suddenly that the 
people had no chance for escape. Many were killed and their 
houses plundered and destroyed. Colonel Willett, informed of 
the incursion, marched with about four hundred men, including 
Oneida warriors, to the defense of the valley. He was joined 
by Colonel Rowley with the Tryon county militia, and the 
plan of attack agreed to. Rowley was sent to fall upon the 
enemy in the rear, while Willett was to attack them in front. 
The belligerents met a short distance above Johnson Hall, and 
a battle immediately ensued. Willett's militia broke and fled 
to the stone church in the village, but at that moment Rowlev 
attacked the rear and soon compelled the enemy to retreat, 
leaving forty of their number killed and wounded and fifty 
prisoners. The pursuit was not taken up until the next morning, 
when it was continued until evening before the enemy were 
reached. A running fight then ensued ; Butler's Indians became 
alarmed at the havoc in their ranks and fled ; a brisk fire was 
kept up for some time by the tories, until Butler, who was 
watching the fight from behind a tree, exposed his head and fell 
under a quick ball from an Oneida, who knew him and who was 
watching his motions ; his troops fled in confusion ; the Oneida 
bounded across the stream that separated the contestants, and 
while Butler, yet living, cried for quarter, finished the work 



286 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



which he had commenced, tore from his head the reeking trophy 
which he sought, and bore it as a banner in the onward charge 

of his comrades. So perished 
Walter N. Butler, the most 
heartless of all the tories who 
engaged in the border wars ; so 
closed the attacks upon the 
frontier settlements of New 
York. 

The gallantry of the Oneidas 
and Tuscaroras during the war 
was only exceeded by that of 
the Mahicans and Wappingers. 
Active in the campaign of 
1777, tne latter joined Washington again in the spring of 1778, 
and were detached with the forces under Lafayette to check the 
depredations of the British army on its retreat from Philadelphia. 
At the engagement at Barren hill they defeated a company of 
British troops, but not precisely in the manner of creditable war- 
fare. Stationed in a wood at a considerable distance from the 
main army, they met the attack of the enemy by discharging 
their muskets and uttering their hideous battle-cry. " The re- 
sult," says Sparks, " was laughable ; both parties ran off equally 
frightened at the unexpected and terrific appearance of their 
antagonists." 1 

But such was not their record in Westchester county, where 
they first met the British, and where they were stationed soon 
after the engagement at Barren hill. In July, while Simcoe and 
Tarleton were making some examinations of the country, the 
Mahicans formed an ambuscade for their capture, and very 
nearly succeeded in their purpose, the party escaping by chang- 
ing their route. 2 Their most distinguished service, however, 
was performed in August. While on a scouting expedition on 
the thirtieth, Lieutenant Colonel Emerick met a body of them 
under Nimham, the king of the W appingers, and in the engage- 




1 Sparks, vii, 547. 



* Simcoe'' s Military Journal. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



287 



ment which followed was compelled to retreat. On the follow- 
ing morning the whole of the British force at Kingsbridge was 
ordered out and the largest portion placed in an ambuscade, 
while Emerick was sent forward to decoy his assailants of the 
previous day. The plan failed, but an engagement was brought 
on, by Emerick's corps, on what is now known as Cortland's ridge, 
in the present town of Yonkers, which was one of the most 
severe of the war. The Indians made the attack from behind 
the fences, and in their first fire wounded five of their enemies, 
including Simcoe. Falling back among the rocks they defied 
for a time the efforts to dislodge them. Emerick offered them 
peace and protection if they would surrender ; four of their 
number accepted the terms only to be hewn in pieces as soon 
as they reached his lines. The engagement was renewed j 
Emerick charged the ridge with cavalry in overwhelming force, 
but was stoutly resisted. As the cavalry rode them down, the 
Indians seized the legs of their foes and dragged them from 
their saddles to join them in death. All hope of successful 
resistance gone, Nimham commanded his followers to fly, but 
for himself exclaimed : "I am an aged tree ; I will die here." 
Ridden down by Simcoe, he wounded that officer and was on 
the point of dragging him from his horse when he was shot by 
Wright, Simcoe's orderly. " The Indians fought most gal- 
lantly," is Simcoe's testimony j but the number engaged is not 
stated. Emerick reported that " near forty " of them " were 
killed or desperately wounded." If his previous statement is 
correct, that the number who had "just joined Washington " 
was "about sixty," over one-half must have fallen in the 
engagement. 1 

To their services in that and in other engagements the testimony 
of Washington is added. 2 Literally did they redeem the pledge 
which they had given at Albany, the pledge of Ruth : " Whither 

1 Near forty of the Indians were killed that they made a correct return, and the 
or desperately wounded, among them number may have been much greater. 
Nimham, a chieftain who had been to a " Head Quarters, Bergen Co., 
England, and his son (Simcoe s journal). September 13, 1870. 
Bolton states that eighteen bodies were To the President of Congress : 
recovered from the field and buried in one Sir : This will be presented to your 
pit. The loss of the British is said to excellency by Captain Hendriks Solo- 
have been five} but it was rare indeed mon of Stockbridge. He and about 



288 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge ; thy 
people shall be my people, and thy God my God ; where thou 
diest will I die, and there will I be buried." The privations 
which the patriots suffered, they shared without a murmur ; in 
their devotion they never wearied. When the tattered banners 
of the struggle were folded away, they returned to their ancient 
seats, and at the head waters of the Hudson again met the white 
men, now their brothers by a holier covenant, as they had 
met them in 1609, the sole representatives of the Indian tribes 
of Hudson's river. 

By the treaty of peace between the United States and Great 
Britain — which was without stipulation in regard to the Indian 
allies of the latter government — " the ancient country of the 
Six Nations, the residence of their ancestors from the time far 
beyond their earliest traditions, was included within the bound- 
aries granted to the Americans. " Nor was this their only loss ; 
in their social and political condition they had been great 
sufferers by their unfortunate alliance. The great body of the 
Oneidas and Tuscaroras had been severed from the confederacy ; 
the "eastern door" of their "Long House" had been broken 
in and its ancient keepers, the Mohawks, made fugitives from 
the seats of their fathers ; the alliance of the four tribes with 
the crown had divested them of the respect of the victors ; their 
towns had been destroyed and their fields wasted by the scourg- 
ing army of Sullivan. When the war closed, the Oneidas and 
Tuscaroras returned to their possessions, assured of the protec- 
tion of their American allies ; the Mohawks, after brooding 
awhile over their misfortunes, retired to the banks of the Ouise 



twenty of his tribe have been serving- as 
volunteers with the army since the be- 
ginning of July. They have been gene- 
rally attached to the light corps, and have 
conducted themselves with great propriety 
and fidelity. Seeing no immediate pro- 
spect of any operation in this quarter, in 
which they can be serviceable, they are 
desirous of returning home after receiv- 
ing some compensation for the time, dur- 
ing which they have been with us, and 
after having made a visit to Philadelphia, 
I have thought it best to gratify them, 
not only on account of being agreeable to 



them, but because I have it not in my 
power to furnish them with such articles 
of clothing as they request, and which 
they would prefer to money. Congress 
will, I doubt not, direct such a supply as 
they shall think proper. Captain Solo- 
mon, with part of these people was with 
us in the year 1778. The tribe suffered 
severely during that campaign, in a skir- 
mish with the enemy, in which they lost 
their chief and several of their warriors. 
I have the honor to be 
Yours, etc., 

Geo. Washington." 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



289 



or Grand river, under the protection of the crown, 1 prepared to 
renew the struggle whenever they should be bidden by those 
whom they served ; the Senecas relighted their council-fire, broken, 
dispirited and divided. 

New York was disposed to complete the work of disintegra- 
tion and dispersion, which the war had developed, by expelling 
the Senecas, Onondagas and Cayugas from all the country within 
its bounds which had not been ceded by them under the treaty 
of 1 768 ; but congress adopted a more liberal policy, never- 
theless one involving punishment. Commissioners on the part 
of the United States met the representatives of the tribes at 
Fort Schuyler in October, 1784, prepared to negotiate a treaty 
based on a concession of territory. The Mohawks were not 
represented ; the Senecas asked delay until the tribes on the 
Ohio could be summoned, but the commissioners would : .not 
consent, nor would they recognize a unity that did not exist. 
Red Jacket opposed the burial of the hatchet, while Corn- 
planter counseled peace, regarding the loss of territory, on the 
terms offered, as far better than the hazards of further war. 
The efforts of the latter prevailed, and, on the twenty-second, 
a treaty was signed by which the United States gave peace to 
the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas and Cayugas, and received 
them under their protection, on condition that all the prisoners 
in their possession, white and black, should be delivered up. 
The Oneidas and Tuscaroras, as well as all the tribes, were 
secured in the possession of the lands they were then occupying, 
with power to sell and relinquish, but at the same time gave up 
all claims to the territory not in absolute occupation west of a 
line beginning at the mouth of the Oyonwayea creek, flowing 
into Lake Ontario four miles east of Niagara, thence southerly, 
but preserving a line four miles east of the carrying path, to the 
mouth of Tehoseroron or Buffalo creek ; thence to the north 
boundary of Pennsylvania ; thence south along the Pennsylvania 
line to the Ohio. 

Had the tribes been permitted to follow their own inclinations, 
this treaty would perhaps have been conclusive j but the Eng- 

1 At the close of the war the Mohawks can side of the Niagara river, in the 
were temporarily residing cn the Ameri- vicinity of the old landing place above 



290 



7HE INDIAN TRIBES 



lish in Canada, and especially the tories, professing to believe 
that the contest between the colonies and the mother country 
had been postponed, not determined, 1 disseminated discontent 
and hastened to revive in the hearts of their allies the sacredness 
of the boundary line of 1768, and the policy upon which it had 
been based. The Lenapes and Shawanoes were encouraged to 
revolt ; Corn planter was driven from power by Red Jacket. 
Brant assumed the task of organizing formidable and active 
hostilities, and for that purpose visited England in 1785. On 
his return the tribes in interest opened communications with the 
American government, suggested that a grand council should be 
called, and that, pending its assemblage, and determination, sur- 
veyors and settlers should be restrained from passing beyond 
the Ohio. 

The government, anxious to prevent hostilities, replied by 
sending instructions to General St. Clair, then governor of the 
north-western territory, to inquire particularly into the temper 
of the Indians, and if he found them hostile, to endeavor to 
hold as general a treaty with them as he could convene, and, 
if possible, satisfactorily extinguish their title to lands as far 
westward as the Mississippi. Under these instructions St. 
Clair concluded at Fort Harmer, on the ninth of January, 1789, 
two separate treaties ; the first, with the sachems of the Five 
Nations, the Mohawks excepted ; the second, with the sachems 
of the Lenapes, Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, and other west- 
ern clans represented. These treaties recognized the boundary 
line of 1784, but at the same time modified that treaty by con- 
ceding the right of the Indians to compensation for lands east 
of the line as far as the boundary of 1768. 

At the negotiation of these treaties the fact became strikingly 
apparent that the confederate tribes were without agreement 
upon any line of policy, 2 Brant openly denouncing many of his 

the fort. The governor of Canada sub- ary of the territory which had been relin- 

sequently assigned them lands on the quished. It was not until 1794, that a 

Grand river about forty miles above treaty was ratified covering these points, 

Niagara Falls. — Stone, 11, 239. meanwhile the encouragement of the 

1 Great Britain, it will be remembered, officers of the crown to the Indians was 

refused to negotiate a commercial treaty not disguised. See Johnson's letter in 

with the United States, or to surrender Stone s Life of Brant, 11, 267. 
certain forts within the northern bound- 2 St. Clair writes : " A jealousy sub- 



■ 



OF HUDSON'S RIPER. 



291 



late allies as having " sold themselves to the devil." 1 Failing 
to unite and wield the tribes to his purposes, he appealed to 
the Lenapes and Shawanoes to take the offensive, with himself 
and his associates as followers. The latter accepted the belt, 
and began hostilities along the western border, then covering an 
extent of four hundred miles. To restrain and punish the 
insurgents General Harmer was sent out, in the autumn of 
1790, with a force of fifteen hundred men, but suffered disaster 
in a conflict near the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary 
rivers ; and General St. Clair, with an expedition for a similar 
purpose, was defeated and severely punished in November of 
the following year. 2 

Encouraged by these successes, the Lenapes and their allies 
resisted the overtures for peace which Captain Hendrik Aupau- 
mut, the Mahican chief, conveyed to them, and, in council 
at Miami Rapids, on the 13th of August, 1793, issued the de- 
claration, that to them the money which the United States 
offered for their lands was of no value, to most of them 
unknown ; that no consideration whatever could induce 
them to sell that from which they obtained sustenance for their 
women and children ; that if peace was desired, justice must be 
done, and to that end the money which was offered them should 
be divided among the settlers who had invaded their country 
and they be bidden to withdraw ; that they never made any agree- 
ment with the king by which their lands followed the fortunes 
of his wars, nor would they now make a treaty which denied 
to them the right to make " bargain or cession of lands when- 
ever and to whomsoever they pleased ; " peace with them could 
be had only on the basis that the Ohio should remain the 
boundary line beyond which the white man should not come. 
" We can retreat no further, because the country behind hardly 
affords food for its present inhabitants ; we have therefore 

sisted among them, which I was not deadly variance." — Am. State Papers, iv, 

willing to lessen by considering them as 10. 

one people. They do not so consider *In other words, to the Yankees, 

themselves ; and I am persuaded their against whom he manifested at all times 

general confederacy is entirely broken, the most intense hatred. 

Indeed, it would not be very difficult, if 2 Stone's Life of Brant, n, 308, etc. j 

circumstances required it, to set them at Gallatin, 50, 51, 68. 



292 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



resolved to leave our bones in this small space, to which we are 
now consigned." 

Thirteen tribes, the Lenapes, Shawanoes, MinsU, Mahicans, 
of the Delaware, Nanticokes and Conoys, the seven nations of 
Canada, the Wyandots, Miamis, Chippeways and Potiawattamies, 
and the Senecas of the Glaize, signed the declaration, and on the 
thirtieth of June following, sealed it with the blood of their bravest 
warriors in battle against General Wayne on the ground where 
St. Clair had been so disastrously defeated in 1791. 1 From that 
field they retired crushed and broken, while fire and sword fol- 
lowed them in their retreat, and blazing villages and ruined 
fields convinced them that however just their cause, there was 
a limit to their powers of resistance. Ruined in estate, and 
deserted by their English allies, with whom the United States 
had finally concluded definite treaty, they came up to a confer- 
ence with Wayne, at Greenville, on the third of August, 1795, 
and accepted the terms of their conquerors. 2 

Full of interest as are the details of this struggle, they do not 
strictly pertain to the purpose of this work, the general facts 
sufficiently indicating the events attending the retreating foot- 
steps of the once powerful occupants of the western valley of 
the Hudson. Leaving the Lenapes and their grandchildren on 
the banks of the Mississippi, the warriors of the Six Nations, 
who, in small number, had participated in the contest, returned 
-to the reservations which had been set apart for them by the 
legislature of New York, which in part they still occupy. 3 
From their ancient dominions the Mahicans at Westenhuck 
removed, in 1785, on the invitation of the Oneidas, to a tract 
six miles square in the present towns of Augusta, Oneida county, 
and Stockbridge, Madison county. Here they resided until 
1 82 1, when, with other Indians of New York, they purchased 
of the Menominees and Winnebagoes, a tract of land on the 
Wisconsin and Fox rivers in Wisconsin, and took up their resi- 
dence there. 4 

1 Stone's Life of Brant, n, 382, etc. Only a comparatively small portion of the 

8 The loss inflicted upon the Americans original reservations now remain in their 
during this war is officially stated at over possession. 

two thousand men. * Stockbridge, Past and Present. 

3 Census of New York, 1855, appendix. 



OF HUDSON'S RIVER. 



293 



And there were other settlements. A band of Montauks of 
Long Island, Mohegans of Connecticut, and Pequots and Narra- 
gansetts of Massachusetts, under the leadership of Samson Ce- 
cum, a Mohegan missionary, took up their residence in the 
Oneida country in 1788, and were confirmed on a reservation 
two miles in length by three in breadth, in the present town of 
Marshall, Oneida county, where, having no language in com- 
mon, they adopted the English, and received the name of 
Brothertons. They subsequently removed to the west and 
settled in Wisconsin. 

Similar was the course of the domestic clans of Raritans. 
From an early period a remnant of the tribe had occupied a 
reservation in the county of Burlington, New Jersey, where they 
were known as Brothertons. In 1802, they accepted an invita- 
tion from the Mahicans to unite with them, and, obtaining 
consent from the legislature, sold their lands and removed to 
the reservation of the latter. They were officially met by the 
authorities of New Jersey for the last time in 1832, when, 
reduced to about forty souls, they applied to the legislature for 
remuneration on account of their rights of hunting and fishing 
on unenclosed lands, which they had reserved in their various 
agreements with the whites, and the legislature promptly directed 
the payment to them of two thousand dollars in full relinquish- 
ment of their claims. 1 



1 The application was made by Sha- 
•wuskukhkung or Wilted Grass, a chief of 
the Delawares, who had been educated 
at Princeton at the expense of the Scotch 
Missionary Society. At the time of 
making the application he was seventy- 
six years of age. His address to the 
legislature, on the occasion, was as fol- 
lows : 

" My Brethren. — I am old, and weak, 
and poor, and therefore a fit representa- 
tive of my people. You are young, and 
strong, and rich, and therefore fit repre- 
sentatives of your people. But let me 
beg you for a moment to lay aside the 
recollection of your strength and of our 
weakness, that your minds may be pre- 
pared to examine with candor the subject 
of our claims. 

" Our tradition informs us, and I believe 



it corresponds with your records, that the 
right of fishing in all the rivers and bays 
south of the Raritan, and of hunting 
in all unenclosed lands, was never relin- 
quished, but on the contrary was expressly 
reserved in our last treaty, held at Cross- 
wicks, in 1758. 

" Having myself been one of the 
parties to the sale, I believe in 1801, I 
know that these rights were not sold or 
parted with. 

" We now offer to sell these privileges 
to the state of New Jersey. They were 
once of great value to us, and we appre- 
hend that neither time nor distance, nor 
the non-use of our rights, has at all 
affected them, but that the courts here 
would consider our claims valid were we 
to exercise them ourselves, or delegate 
them to others. It is not, however, our 



294 



THE INDIAN TRIBES 



On a small reservation on Long island the Montauks have 
still a representation, though with scarce a member of pure 
blood. On the third of March, 1702, they made an agreement 
with the English in which the rights of each were definitely 
fixed, and resided in peace with their neighbors until after the 
revolution, when they made claim to lands which they had 
previously ceded, but without success. The first to welcome 
Hudson's wandering bark, they are now the last representatives 
of the tribes which once held dominion on Sewanhackie. 

Domestic clans or families of Minsls and Mahicans lingered 



wish thus to excite litigation. We con- 
sider the state legislature the proper pur- 
chaser, and throw ourselves upon its 
benevolence and magnanimity, trusting 
that feelings of justice and liberality will 
induce you to give us what you deem a 
compensation." 

The whole subject was referred to a 
committee, before whom Hon. Samuel 
L. Southard voluntarily and ably advocated 
the claim of the Delawares ; and at the 
conclusion of his speech remarked : 
"That it was a proud fact in the history 
of New Jersey, that every foot of her 
soil had been obtained from the Indians 
by fair and voluntary purchase and trans- 
fer, a fact that no other state in the 
union, not even the land which bears the 
name of Penn, can boast of." The com- 
mittee reported in favor of an appropria- 
tion of $2,000, which the legislature at 
once confirmed. This was the crowning 
act of a series in which justice and kind- 
ness to the Indians had been kept steadily 
in view ; and was thus acknowledged by 
the veteran chief in a letter to the legis- 
lature dated " Trenton, March 12, 1832: 

" Bartholomew S. Calvin (his English 
name), takes this method to return his 
thanks to both houses of the state legis- 
lature, and especially to their committees, 
for their very respectful attention to, and 
candid examination of, the Indian claims 
which he was delegated to present. 

" The final act of official intercourse 
between the state of New Jersey and the 
Delaware Indians, who once owned nearly 
the whole of its territory, has now been 
consummated, and in a manner which 
must redound to the honor of this grow- 
ing state, and, in all probability, to the 



prolongation of the existence of a wasted, 
yet grateful people. Upon this parting 
occasion, I feel it to be an incumbent 
duty to bear the feeble tribute of my 
praise to the high-toned justice which, 
in this instance, and, so far as I am ac- 
quainted, in all former times, has actuated 
the councils of this commonwealth in 
dealing with the aboriginal inhabitants. 

" Not a drop of our blood have you 
spilled in battle — not an acre of our 
land have you taken but by our consent. 
These facts speak for themselves, and 
need no comment. They place the 
character of New Jersey in bold relief and 
bright example to those states within 
whose territorial limits our brethren still 
remain. Nothing save benisons can fall 
upon her from the lips of a Lenni Lenape. 

" There may Be some who would despise 
an Indian benediction 5 but when I return 
to my people, and make known to them 
the result of my mission, the ear of the 
Great Sovereign of the universe, which 
is still open to our cry, will be penetrated 
with our invocation of blessings upon the 
generous sons of New Jersey. 

" To those gentlemen, members of the 
legislature, and others who have evinced 
their kindness to me, I cannot refrain 
from paying the unsolicited tribute of my 
heart-felt thanks. Unable to return 
them any other compensation, I fervently 
pray that God will have them in his holy 
keeping — will guide them in safety 
through the vicissitudes of this life, and 
ultimately, through the rich mercies of 
our blessed Redeemer, receive them into 
the glorious entertainment of his kingdom 
above." — See note by W. J. Allinson, 
Neiv Jersey Historical Collections. 



OF HUDSON'S RIFER. 



295 



around their ancient seats for some years after the close of the 
revolution, but of them one after another it is written, " they 
disappeared in the night." In the language of Tamenund at 
the death of Uncas : " The pale faces. are masters of the earth, 
and the time of the red men has not yet come again. My day 
has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unami 
happy and strong ; and yet, before the night has come, have I 
lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mahicans." 



I 



APPENDIX. 



J 




APPENDIX 



I. Biographical Sketches. 

HE personal history of the early Indian kings and 
chiefs who held dominion in the valley of the Hud- 
son, is involved in even greater obscurity than that 
which attaches to their contemporaries in other 
parts of the new world. Of Massasoit, Miantonomoh, 
Uncas, Philip, and other New England chiefs, and of Pow- 
hattan and Pocahontas of Virginia, there is some definite 
information ; but of those who welcomed the emigrants from 
Holland, names alone survive. Monemius and Unuwats, 
whose castles Hudson visited, have no record except in the 
deed which they gave to their lands, while Aepjin, king of the 
Mahicans, and Goethals, king of the Wappingers, float in an 
uncertain twilight which is scarcely relieved on the part of their 
contemporaries, Kaelcop and Sewackenamo of the Minsis, 
Wyandance, of the Montauks, and Oritany of the Hackin- 
sacks, by the stirring scenes in which they were participants. 
Even as late as 1710, when more definite records came to be 
written, there is no preservation of the lines of kings, nor is 
there positive identification of the Mahlcan and Iroquois sachems 
who then visited England. True, it is said that Hendrik of 
the Mohawks, was one of the latter, and that Elow-oh-Kaom, 
of the Mahicans, left a daughter who became the wife of Um- 
pachenee, a chief subsequently known to the missionaries of 
Stockbridge ; but as a rule, the declaration is not the mere 
creation of the poet Sprague, that 

" The doomed Indian leaves behind no trace, 
To save his own or serve another race, 
With his frail breath his power has passed away, 
His deeds, his thoughts, are buried with his clay. 
His heraldry is but a broken bow, 
His history but a tale of wrong and woe, 
His very name must be a blank.'' 




300 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



On the part of the Lenapes the name of Tamany, or Ta- 
maned has been preserved in a halo of traditionary glory. He 
was one of their sachems or kings, and lived possibly as late as 
1680. Heckewelder says: "The fame of this great man 
extended even among the whites, who fabricated numerous 
legends respecting him, which I never heard, however, from 
the mouth of an Indian, and therefore believe to be fabulous/' 
He is said to have been a resident of the present county of 
Bucks, in Pennsylvania, and that he was buried near a spring 
about three and a half miles west of Doylestown, in that county. 
Heckewelder adds, that when Colonel George Morgan of 
Princeton, visited the western Indians, by order of congress, 
in 1776, he was so beloved for his goodness that the Lenapes 
gave to him the name of their venerated chief. Morgan brought 
back to the whites such glowing accounts of the qualities of the 
ancient chief, that, in the revolutionary war, he was dubbed a 
saint, his name was placed on some calendars^ and his festi- 
val celebrated on the first day of May in every year. " On 
that day a numerous society of votaries walked together in pro- 
cession through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated 
with bucks' tails, and proceeded to a handsome rural place out 
of town which they called a wigwam, where, after a long talk 
or Indian speech had been delivered, and the calumet of friend- 
ship and peace had been smoked, they spent the day in festivity 
and mirth. After dinner Indian dances were performed on the 
green in front of the wigwam, the calumet was again smoked, 
and the company separated." " After the war," adds Thatcher, 
" these meetings were broken up ; but since that time Tam- 
many societies have sprung up in Philadelphia and New York, 
which have excited no little influence in political circles. ,, 

Allummapees, or Sassoonan, is the first ruling king of the 
Lenapes, known to the records. He was the associate, perhaps 
the successor of Tamany. In 17 18, he headed the deputation 
of Indian chieftains at Philadelphia, who signed an absolute 
release to the proprietaries for the lands " situate between 
Delaware and Susquehanna, from Duck creek to the mountains 
on this side Lechay, which lands had been granted by their 
ancestors to William Penn." In 1728, he had removed "from 



APPENDIX. 



301 



on Delaware to Shamokin." Conrad Weisser, the Indian 
interpreter, writes in 1747: "The Delaware Indians last year 
intended to visit Philadelphia, but were prevented by Allum- 
mapees' sickness, who is still alive, but not able to stir. They 
will come down this year, some time after harvest. Allum- 
mapees has no successor in his relations, and he will hear of 
none so long as he is alive, and none of the Indians care to 
meddle in the affair. Shikellimy 1 advises that the government 
should name Allummapees' successor, and set him up by 
their authority, that at this critical time there might be a man 
to apply to, since Allummapees has lost his senses and is inca- 
pable of doing anything." In 1747, the old chief took part in 
a treaty with the Moravians concerning the erection of a smithy 
at their town. In the fall of that year he deceased. What- 
ever he may have been in his earlier years, he was but little 
more than an intemperate imbecile at the time of his death. 
Weisser writes : " Allummapees would have resigned his 
crown before now, but as he had the keeping of the public 
treasure (that is to say of the council-bag), consisting of belts 
of wampum, for which he buys liquor, and has been drunk for 
these two or three years almost constantly, it is thought he won't 
die so long as there is one single wampum left in the bag." 2 

Tadame was the successor of Allummapees. He held the 
crown until 1756, when he was " treacherously murdered, but 
by whom or for what cause," says Minor, " we find no record." 3 
The probabilities are, however, that as he was active in the 
hostilities which had then been inaugurated with the English, 
his death was caused by some wretch of his own tribe for the 
purpose of obtaining the price which the governor of Pennsyl- 
vania had offered for his scalp. 

Teedyuscung, the most distinguished of the modern Lenape 
kings, was the successor of Tadame. Major Parsons writes 
that he was " a lusty, raw-boned man, but haughty and very 
desirable of respect and command." Reichel, in his Memorials 
of the Moravian Churchy adds : " According to his own state- 

1 Shikellimy was one of the viceregent 2 Memorials of the Moravian Church, 
Oneida chiefs, residing at Shamokin. i, 67. 
He died in 1748. 3 History of Wyoming. 



302 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



ment, he was born about the year 1700, in New Jersey, east 
of Trenton, in which neighborhood his ancestors of the Unamis 
had been seated from time immemorial. Old Captain Harris, 
a noted Delaware, was his father. The same was the father 
also of Captain John of Nazareth, of young Captain Harris, of 
Tom, of Jo, and of Sam Evans, a family of high-spirited sons 
who were not in good repute with their white neighbors. The 
latter named them, it is true, for men of their own people, and 
Teedyuscung they named Honest John ; yet they disliked 
and then feared them, for the Harrises were known to grow 
moody and resentful, and were heard to speak threatening words 
as they saw their paternal acres passing out of their hands, and 
their hunting-grounds converted into pasture and plowed fields." 
When the Moravians appeared at Bethlehem, Teedyuscung 
came to hear them ; soon after professed conversion and was bap- 
tized. His conversion, however, was not proof against the 
wrongs which his people had suffered, and when the offer of the 
crown was made to him he readily accepted it, and became 
their leader. At the conferences which he attended, says the 
writer last quoted : " Teedyuscung stood up as the champion 
of his people, fearlessly demanding restitution of their lands, or 
an equivalent for their irreparable loss, and in addition the free 
exercise of the right to select, within the territory in dispute, a 
permanent home. The chieftain's imposing presence, his 
earnestness of appeal, and his impassioned oratory, as he plead 
the cause of the long-injured Lenape, evoked the admiration of 
his enemies themselves. He always spoke in the euphonious 
Delaware, employing this Castilian of the new world to utter 
the simple and expressive figures and tropes of the native rhe- 
toric with which his harangues were replete, although he was 
conversant with the white man's speech. It would almost 
appear, from the minutes of these conferences, that the English 
artfully attempted to evade the point at issue, and to conciliate 
the indignant chieftain by fair speeches and uncertain promises. 
The hollowness of the former he boldly exposed, and the latter 
he scornfully rejected ; so that it was soon perceived that the 
Indian king was as astute and sagacious, as he was unmovable 
in the justice of his righteous demands. This conviction forced 



APPENDIX. 



303 



itself upon his hearers, and then they yielded to the terms he 
laid down." He was the hero of the war of 1755, for while 
Hendrik boldly demanded the simple distribution of presents, 
Teedyuscung wrung the liberties of his people from both his 
civilized and uncivilized enemies. 

In the spring of 1758, Teedyuscung removed to Wyoming, 
where, agreeably to his request and the conditions of treaty, a 
town had been built for him and his followers by the govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania. Here he lived not unmindful of his 
long cherished object, and here he was burned to death on the 
night of the 19th of April, 1763, while asleep in his lodge. 
" The concurrent testimony of his time agrees in representing 
him as a man of marked ability, a brave warrior, a sagacious 
counsellor and a patriot among his people. Although he was 
governed by strong passions, and a slave of that degrading vice 
which was the bane of his race, he was not devoid of feeling, 
but susceptible of the gentler influences of our nature. Numer- 
ous are the anecdotes extant, illustrating his love of humor, his 
ready wit, his quickness of apprehension and reply, his keen 
penetration, and his sarcastic delight in exposing low cunning 
and artifice. " Stone adds : " In regard to the character of 
Teedyuscung, the sympathies of Sir William Johnson were 
with his own people ; yet in his correspondence, while he labored 
somewhat to detract from the lofty pretensions of the Delaware 
captain, the baronet conceded to him enough of talent, influence, 
and power among his peQple, to give him a proud rank among 
the chieftains of his race. Certain it is, that Teedyuscung 
did much to restore his nation to the rank of Men." 

Netawatwees, the successor of Teedyuscung, is spoken of 
in the highest terms by Loskiel and Heckewelder. Loskiel 
says : "This wise man spared no pains to conciliate the affection 
of all his neighbors. He sent frequent embassies to his grand- 
children, admonishing them to keep the peace, and proved in 
truth a wise grandfather to them. He used to lay all affairs of 
state before his counsellors for their consideration, without tell- 
ing them his own sentiments. When they gave him their 
opinion, he either approved of it, or stated his objections and 
amendments, always stating the reasons of his disapprobation. 



304 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Thus he kept them active, and maintained great respect. When 
the war of the revolution came on he did every thing in his 
power to preserve peace among the Indian nations. He, however, 
received a message from the Hurons^ " that the Delawares 
should keep their shoes in readiness, to join the warriors." 
This message he would not accept, but sent several to the Hu- 
rms admonishing them to sit still, and to remember the misery 
they had brought upon themselves by taking share in the late 
war between the English and the French. These belts were 
carried to the chiefs of the Hurons in Fort Detroit, but as it 
was necessary to deliver them in the presence of the English 
governor, the latter, " to fulfill his duty, cut them in pieces, 
cast them at the deputies' feet, and commanded them to 
depart." He died at Pittsburg in 1776. Loskiel adds : "Ever 
since his sentiments changed in favor of the Gospel, he was 
a faithful friend of the brethren, and being one of the most 
experienced chiefs of his time, his council proved often very 
serviceable to the mission. The wish he uttered as his last will 
and testament, that the Delaware nation might hear and believe 
the word of God, preached by the brethren, was frequently re- 
peated in the council by his successors, and then they renewed 
their covenant to use their utmost exertions to fulfill this last 
wish of their old, worthy and honored chief. Upon such an 
occasion Captain White Eyes, holding the Bible and some spell- 
ing books in his hands, addressed the council with great emotion 
and even with tears. My friends, . said he, you have now 
heard the last will and testament of our departed chief. I will 
therefore gather together my young men and their children, and 
kneeling down before that God who created them, will pray 
unto him, that he may have mercy upon us and reveal his will 
unto us. And as we cannot declare it to those who are yet 
unborn, we will pray unto the Lord our God, to make it known 
to our children, and children's children." Heckewelder says : 
" All the surrounding nations appeared to have been sensible of 
his worth. While living, he often encouraged his people to 
adopt the way of living by agriculture, and finally become civil- 
ized. His ideas were, that*unless the Indians changed their 
mode of living they would in time dwindle to nothing." 



APPENDIX. 



305 



Captain White Eyes, or Coquehageahton^ distinguished for 
his friendship for the Americans in the early stages of the 
revolution, was the successor of Netawatwees, but held the 
government only two years. On his death, in 1778, a regency 
took the direction during the minority of the lineal heir to the 
throne. On the death of the latter, in 1781, Gelelemand, 
alias Killbuck, became king by election. 

One of the earliest chiefs of the Shawanoes, of whom record 
has been preserved, was Paxinos or Paxinosa, who came to 
theMinnisink country in 1692, and who appears, in the records of 
New York, as chief of the Minnisinks. He subsequently fell back 
with his people to the Delaware country, and next appears in 
the difficulties which grew out of the removal of the Lenapes to 
Wyoming. With a desire to strengthen themselves at the 
latter place, Teedyuscung and Paxinos visited the " believing 
Indians"at Gnadenhiitten, in 1752, and desired them to remove 
to the lands which they had selected, repeating as the order of 
the Six Nations : u They (the Iroquois) rejoice that some of 
the believing Indians have removed to Wyoming ; but now 
they lift up the remaining Mahicans and Delawares and settle 
them down in Wyoming, for there a fire is kindled for them, 
and there they may plant and think on God." About eighty 
of the converts accompanied the parties to Wyoming, but the 
remainder refused to do so, under the advice of the missionaries. 
In the spring of 1754, Paxinos again appeared in the settle- 
ment, accompanied by twenty-three warriors and three Iroquois 
embassadors, and added to the order already quoted, that if the 
invitation was not heeded, cc the great head (the Iroquois) would 
come down and clean their ears with a red-hot poker." Says 
Loskiel : " Paxinos then turned to the missionaries, earnestly 
demanding of them not to hinder the Indians from removing to 
Wajomick, for that the road was free, therefore they might 
visit their friends there, stay with them till they were tired, and 
then return to their own country." On the nth of February, 
1755, Paxinos "demanded an answer to the message he had 
brought last year," and was told that " the brethren would con- 
fer with the Iroquois themselves, concerning the intended 
removal of the Indians at Gnadenhiitten to Wajomick." Los- 



306 



HUDSON RIVER INDIJNS. 



kiel adds : " Paxinos, being only an embassador in this business, 
was satisfied, and even formed a closer acquaintance with the 
brethren. His wife, who heard the gospel preached daily, was 
so overcome by its divine power, that she began to see her lost 
estate by nature, and earnestly begged for baptism. Her hus- 
band, having lived thirty-eight years with her in marriage, to 
mutual satisfaction, willingly gave his consent, prolonged his 
stay at Bethlehem, was present in the chapel, and deeply 
affected when his wife was baptized by Bishop Spangenberg." 
The Indians did not remove, and, soon after Paxinos' last visit, 
the Moravian settlement near Shamokin was attacked, and four- 
teen persons killed. On the 24th of November, Shamokin 
shared the same fate. Several persons were killed, and eleven 
belonging to the mission were burned alive ; and, on New 
Year's day the work of destruction was completed. What 
connection Paxinos had with these hostilities does not appear, 
but it is said that he sent his two sons to rescue brother Kiefer, if 
he should be in the hands of the enemy, and that that mission- 
ary was conducted by them to Gnadenhiitten, showing that he 
must have been aware that the attack was contemplated. He 
was present at the treaty with Johnson in 1756, and at Easton 
with Teedyuscung in 1757, on which latter occasion he was 
addressed by Governor Denny as " our hearty friend and a 
lover of peace." Reichel says he removed with his family to 
the Ohio country in 1758, and that he was the last Shawanoe 
king east of the Alleghanies. At the time of his removal he 
was an old man, and was doubtless soon after gathered to his 
fathers. His son Kolapeka or Teatapercaum, alias Samuel, was 
a distinguished chief in the war of 1764. 

Although perhaps not strictly a part of the history of the 
Indians of Hudson's river, the connection of the Shawanoes 
with the Minsis will permit the introduction of one or two of 
their more prominent chiefs. Benevissica represented them 
in the treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1764, and again in 1765. In 
1774, it is said that a belt was sent to Nererahhe, a Shawanoe, 
" but he being a sachem, sent it to the chief warrior of his 
nation, Sowanowane." Although it does not positively appear, 
there is some ground for the presumption that the latter was 



APPENDIX. 



307 



none other than the famous Cornstalk, who stood at the head 
of the western confederacy in that year, and who held the com- 
mand in the engagement with the forces under Dunmore and 
Lewis at Point Pleasant. He was a man of more than ordinary 
nerve and power, as well as one of the most eloquent of his 
race. Says Stone : " Col. Wilson who was present at the 
interview between the chief and Lord Dunmore, thus speaks of 
the chieftain's bearing on the occasion : ' When he arose, he 
was in no wise confused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and 
audible voice, without stammering or repetition, and with pecu- 
liar emphasis. His looks, while addressing Dunmore, were 
truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and attractive. I have 
heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard 
Henry Lee ; but never have I heard one whose powers of deli- 
very surpassed those of Cornstalk.' " After his treaty with 
Dunmore he became a friend to the English, and to that friend- 
ship gave up his life. Learning that his people were determined 
to make war upon the English, he visited the latter in 1777, at 
the fort which they had erected at Point Pleasant to take advice. 
The commandant of the fort detained him as a hostage, and 
while thus detained he fc was joined by his son Ellinipsico. 
Soon after the arrival of the latter, a white man named Gilmore 
was killed near the fort. The cry of revenge was raised, and 
a party of ruffians assembled, under the command of Capt. 
Hall, who, instead of pursuing the guilty, fell upon the hostages 
in the fort. Seeing that there was no escape for him, the old 
chief addressed his son : " My son, the Great Spirit has seen fit 
that we should die together, and has sent you to that end. It 
is his will, and let us submit." Cornstalk fell, perforated 
with seven bullets, and died without a struggle, while his son 
met his fate with composure and was shot on the seat upon 
which he was sitting. " Thus," says Withers in his Indian 
Chronicles^ "perished the mighty Cornstalk, sachem of the 
Shawanoes^ and king of the northern confederacy in 1774, a 
chief remarkable for many great and good qualities. He was 
disposed to be at all times the friend of the white man, as he 
was ever the advocate of honorable peace. But when his 
country's wrongs summoned him to battle, he became the 



308 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



thunderbolt of war, and made his enemies feel the weight of 
his arm. His noble bearing, his generous and disinterested 
attachment to the colonies, his anxiety to preserve the frontier 
of Virginia from desolation and death, all conspired to win for 
him the esteem and respect of others ; while the untimely and 
perfidious manner of his death caused a deep and lasting feeling 
of regret to pervade the bosoms, even of those who were ene- 
mies to his nation, and excited the just indignation of all towards 
his inhuman murderers." 

The most distinguished chief of the Shawanoes^ of more 
modern times, was Tecumseh, who, as Parton justly writes, 
" though not the faultless ideal of a patriot prince that romantic 
story represents him, was all of a patriot, a hero, a man, that 
an Indian can be." He was a cross-breed, the son of a Shawa- 
noe by a Creek woman, and at a very early age gave evidence 
of superior abilities in the wars which were terminated by the 
treaty of 1794. Thoroughly indoctrinated in the policy of his 
people, and a willing student of the schools which demanded a 
line beyond which the whites should not advance to the hunting 
grounds of the west, the sale of the lands of his tribe on the 
Wabash, soon after Mr. Jefferson came into power, gave him 
great offense. About this time Hendrik, of the Mahicans, 
conceived the plan of uniting the tribes of the west for the 
better protection of their interests. Tecumseh seized the idea 
quickly and perverted its purpose to the accomplishment of an 
organization which should have for its object the entire destruc- 
tion of the whites, after the plan of his great prototype, King 
Philip. From tribe to tribe he passed, declaring : " The Great 
Spirit gave this grefat island to his red children ; he placed the 
whites on the other side of the big water ; they were not con- 
tented with their own, but came to take ours from us. They 
have driven us from the sea to the lakes ; we can go no further. 
They have taken upon them to say this land belongs to the 
Miamis, this to the Delawares, and so on ; but the Great Spirit 
intended it as the common property of us all." For four years 
he was engaged in the work of preparing the tribes for a gene- 
ral war. A silent man in the ordinary circumstances of life, 
he could employ more than the eloquence of Logan, and when 



JPPENDIX. 



309 



descanting upon the Indian's wrongs, and the white man's 
encroachments. General Harrison, who was long his patient 
and forbearing adviser, and then his conqueror, speaks of him 
as "one of those uncommon geniuses which spring up occa- 
sionally to produce revolutions, and overturn the established 
order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United 
States, he would, perhaps, be the founder of an empire, that 
would rival in glory Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter 
him. For four years he has been in constant motion. You 
see him to-day on the Wabash, and in a short time hear of him 
on the shores of Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of 
the Mississippi ; and wherever he goes he makes an impression 
favorable to his purposes." Failing to accomplish his purpose, 
he accepted the overtures of the British and brought to their 
aid, in the war of 1812, two thousand warriors — an alliance 
more powerful than that which that government had ever been 
able to command even in the palmiest days of the Five Nations. 
On the banks of the Thames, on the 5th of October, in an 
engagement which will forever occupy a prominent place in 
American history from its association with his fate, he gave up 
his life in endeavoring to promote the cause of those in whose 
selfish purposes he had no interest, but in whom he found what 
he believed to be the avengers of the wrongs of his people. 
He is described as a person of erect, athletic frame, of noble, 
commanding appearance, and the air of a king. When he arose 
before his savage audiences, his imposing manner created a feel- 
ing of awe ; but when he kindled with his great subject, he 
seemed like one inspired. His eye flashed fire, his swarthy bosom 
heaved and swelled with imprisoned passion, his whole frame 
dilated with excitement, and his strong untutored soul poured 
itself forth in eloquence, wild, headlong, and resistless. When 
not addressing his clans, he was cold and haughty. " His 
withering sarcasm," says Headley, " when Proctor proposed to 
retreat from Walden ; his reply to the interpreter, who, offering 
him a chair in the presence of Harrison, said, ' Your father 
wishes you to be seated,' — 4 My Father ! the sun is my father, 
and the earth my mother ; I will rest on her bosom ' — reveal a 
nature conscious of its greatness." And Parton adds: "If to 



sio 



HUDSON RIPER INDIANS. 



conceive a grand, difficult, and unselfish project, to labor for 
years with enthusiasm and prudence in attempting its execution ; 
to enlist in it by the magnetism of personal influence great 
multitudes of various tribes ; to contend for it with unfaltering 
valor longer than there was hope of success ; and to die fighting 
for it to the last, falling toward the enemy covered with wounds, 
is to give proof of an heroic cast of character, then is the Sha- 
wanoe chief Tecumseh, in whose veins flowed no blood that 
was not Indian, entitled to rank among heroes." 1 

The Six Nations were not without their great men, of whom 
King Hendrik, or Soi-en-ga-rah-ta, who stood for so many 
years at the head of the Mohawks^ was one. It is said that 
he was born in 1680, and that he was one of the chiefs who 
visited England in 17 10. 2 His father was a Mahican chief, 
called by his people The Wolf, who, either by captivity and 
adoption became a member of the Mohawk family, or was 
attracted thither by the fair charmer who became his wife, 
herself the daughter of a king. In the right of his mother, 
Hendrik became king. When about twenty years of age, 
and for half a century or more subsequently, he represented his 
people in council and in camp, coming down to the present time 
as a model of Indian courage and the embodiment of Indian 
eloquence. His greatest service to the English appears to have 
been performed in the battle under Johnson, at Lake George, 
in 1755, where he lost his life, and his greatest speech that 
which he delivered before the conference at Albany in 1754. 
That the reader may judge of its merits, without the trouble of 
reference, its most important parts are copied : 

" Brethren : We return you all our grateful acknowledgments 
for renewing and brightening the covenant chain. This chain 
belt is of very great importance to our united nations, and all 
our allies ; we will therefore take it to Onondaga, where our 
council-fire always burns, and keep it so securely that neither 
thunder nor lightning shall break it ; there we will consult over 



1 Parton's Life of Jackson ; Headley's 
Second War with England ; Drake's Life 
of Tecumseh ; Montgomery's Life of Har- 
rison. 



2 The statement of Governor Hunter 
[Colonial History, v y 358), leaves no room 
to doubt that Hendrik was one of the 
chiefs named as parties to this expedition. 



APPENDIX. 



311 



it, and as we have lately added two links to it, so we will en- 
deavor to add as many more links to it as lies in our power j 
and we hope when we show you this belt again, we shall give 
you reason to rejoice at it, by your seeing the vacancies in it 
filled up. In the meantime we desire that you will strengthen 
yourselves, and bring as many into this covenant chain as you 
possibly can. 

" We do now solemnly renew and brighten the covenant 
chain with our brethren here present, and all our other absent 
brethren on the continent. 

" Brethren : As to the accounts you have heard of our living 
dispersed from each other, 'tis very true. We have several 
times endeavored to draw off those of our brethren who are 
settled at Oswegatchie but in vain, for the governor of Canada 
is like a wicked deluding spirit ; however, as you desire we shall 
persist in our endeavors. 

" You have asked us the reason of our living in this dispersed 
manner. The reason is, your neglecting us for these three 
years past. You have thus (taking a stick and throwing it be- 
hind his back), thrown us behind your back, and disregarded us, 
whereas the French are a subtle and vigilant people, ever using 
their utmost endeavors to bring our people over to them. 

" Brethren : It is very true as you told us that the clouds 
hang heavy over us, and 'tis not very pleasant to look up, but 
we give you this belt to clear away all clouds, that we may all 
live in bright sunshine, and keep together in strict union and 
friendship ; then we shall become strong and nothing can hurt us. 

" Brethren : This is the ancient place of treaty, where the 
fire of friendship always used to burn, and 'tis now three years 
since we have been called to any public treaty here. 'Tis true 
there are commissioners here, but they have never invited us to 
smoke with them ; but the Indians of Canada come frequently 
and smoke here, which is for the sake of their beaver ; but we 
hate them. 'Tis your fault, brethren, that we are not strength- 
ened by conquest, for we would have gone and taken Crown 
point, but you hindered us ; we had concluded to go and take 
it, but we were told it was too late, and that the ice would not 
bear us ; instead of this, you burnt your own fort at Saratoga 



312 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



and run away from it, which was a shame and a scandal to you. 
Look about your country and see ; you have no fortifications 
about you, no, not even to this city ; 'tis but one step from 
Canada hither, and the French may easily come and turn you 
out of your doors. 

<4 Brethren : You desire us to speak from the bottom of our 
hearts, and we shall do it. Look about you and see all these 
houses full of beaver, and the money is all gone to Canada, 
likewise powder, lead and guns, which the French now make 
use of at Ohio. 

" Brethren : The goods which go from hence to Oswego, 
go from thence to Ohio, which further enables the French to 
carry on their designs at the Ohio. 

" Brethren : You were desirous that we should open our 
minds, and our hearts to you ; look at the French, they are 
men, they are fortifying everywhere ; but, we are ashamed to 
say it, you are all, like women, bare and open without any 
fortifications." 

At the same conference, in subsequent session, he spoke as 
follows : 

u Brethren : There is an affair about which our hearts tremble 
and our minds are deeply concerned ; this is the selling of rum 
in our castles. It destroys many, both of our old and young 
people. We request of all the governments here present, that 
it may be forbidden to carry any of it amongst the Five Nations. 

" Brethren : We are in great fears about this rum j it may 
cause murder on both sides. We don't want it to be forbid to 
be sold to us at Albany, but that none may be brought to our 
castles. The Cayugas now declare in their own name, that 
they will not allow any rum to be brought up their river, and 
those who do so must take the consequences. 

" Brethren : We, the Mohawks of both castles, have also one 
request to make, which is, that the people who are settled 
round about us, may not be suffered to sell our people rum \ it 
keeps them all poor, makes them idle and wicked ; if they have 
any money or goods they lay it all out in rum ; it destroys vir- 
tue and the progress of religion amongst us. We have a friendly 
request to make to the governor and all the commissioners here 



APPENDIX. 



313 



present, that they will help us to build a church at Canajoharie, 
and that we may have a bell in it, which, together with the 
putting a stop to the selling of rum, will tend to make us religious 
and lead better lives than we now do." 

Comparisons, it is said, are odious ; in this case they are not 
necessary in order to strip from history the high coloring which has 
been given to the eloquence of Hendrik. Nor can it with truth 
be added that Aupaumut " for capacity, bravery and vigor of 
mind, and immovable integrity united, he excelled all the abo- 
riginal inhabitants of whom we have any knowledge." Concede 
to him all that even charity demands for his race, he yet failed 
to rise to the greatness of Massasoit, Uncas, Philip, Teedyuscung, 
Aupaumut, Pontiac, or Tecumseb. He was less eloquent than 
Logan the Oneida, than Aupaumut the Mahican, than Corn- 
planter or Red 'Jacket of the Senecas ; his bravery and his integrity 
were alike tarnished by his selfishness. That he was a great 
man among his people, " esteemed the bravest of the brave, 
among the Iroquois" is true! The concurrent testimony of 
every traditionist awards to him great natural talents, judgment 
and sagacity. His death was heroic ; his life, a criticism on 
the debasing influences of civilization upon his race. 

Thayendanega, or Joseph Brant, who is regarded as the 
successor of King Hendrik* is said to have been the son of a 
Mohawk woman by a chief of the Onondagas, although there 
have been those who have regarded him as one of the illegitimate 
children of Sir William Johnson. He was born, says Stone, in 
the Ohio country, in 1742, where his father and mother were 

1 Speaking of the succession of kings, supplied by the election of Joseph Brant, 

Schoolcraft remarks : " The son of the an entirely new man in the line of chiefs, 

chief's oldest sister was the chief pre- It was the wise policy of Sir Wm. John- 

sumptive. Such was the Iroquois rule son and his son, to lay the greatest stress 

when King Hendrik fell at the battle of on his tribal authority, and to strengthen 

Lake George ; he had a son of mature age, it by every means, as the best and most 

who made use of the memorable expres- direct way of exercising an influence over 

sion, on hearing his father's death, " No, the tribes." (Hist. Indian Tribes, part iv, 

he is not dead, but lives here," striking 481). In Colonial History, vm, 53, Abra- 

his breast. Yet he did not succeed his father ham is said to have been the great Hen- 

in the Mohawk chieftaincy. It fell to drik's brother, not a son of the sister of 

his sister's son, Little Abraham, a mild that chief, as stated by Schoolcraft. But 

and politic chief, who died at the era of he was not the less the legitimate suc- 

the opening of the American revolution, cessor to the throne. 
On this, there was a vacancy which was 



314 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



then temporarily residing, and where his father soon after died. 
His mother, on her return to Canajoharie, married an Indian 
called Carrihogo, or News Carrier, whose Christian name 
was Barnet or Bernard, which was subsequently contracted into 
Brant, by which name his step-son was also known, being first 
called Brant's Joseph, and subsequently, by inversion, 
Joseph Brant. His position as chief was mainly due to his 
associations with the Johnsons. His sister, Mary or Molly, was 
the concubine of Sir William, and as her brother was perhaps 
necessarily much in her company, Johnson sent him to Dr. 
Wheelock's school, and subsequently employed him as his secre- 
tary as an agent in public affairs. Throughout the revolution he 
was engaged in warfare chiefly upon the border settlements of 
New York and Pennsylvania, in connection with the Johnsons 
and Butlers. After the war he devoted himself to the social 
and religious improvement of the Mohawks, who were settled 
upon the Ouise or Grand river, in Upper Canada, upon lands 
granted to them by the governor of that province. He trans- 
lated the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk language ; and 
in many ways his exertions for the spiritual and temporal wel- 
fare of his people were eminently successful, and endeared him 
to his nation. Pie was far from being a great or an able chief, 
many of his contemporaries being his peers in courage and in 
native ability. His education and his association with the John- 
sons gave him in prominence what he lacked in distinctive 
merit. He died at his residence at the head of Lake Ontario, 
November 24th, 1807, aged 65 years. One of his sons (John) 
was an officer in the British service, on the Niagara frontier in 
the war of 1812. (Lossing, r, 257). Schoolcraft repudiates the 
claim set up by Stone that Brant was made the war chieftain of 
the confederacy. He asserts that no such office existed, and 
that Brant was simply a chief of the third and lowest class. 
(Notes on the Iroquois, 496). The authority which he exercised 
was undoubtedly by virtue of his commission from the British 
government. At no time was his course approved by the united 
voice of the confederacy in council at Onondaga. 

Logan, who was regarded by Jefferson as the most eloquent 
of all the aborigines, " was the son of Shikellimy, alias Swatane, 



APPENDIX. 



315 



an Oneida chief of the Oquacho or Wolf tribe of Indians, who 
was in 1728, acting representative of the Five Nations, in busi- 
ness affairs with the proprietary government, and who was ap- 
pointed their vicegerent, and in this capacity administered their 
tributaries within the province of Pennsylvania, with Shamokin 
for his seat. 1 His father was one of the earliest to encourage 
the introduction of Christianity by the Moravians. He was a 
great friend of the celebrated James Logan, who accompanied 
Penn on his last voyage to America, and who subsequently 
became distinguished in the colony for his learning and benevo- 
lence. Hence the name of his son. Logan married a Sha- 
wanoe woman and removed from his father's lodge to the Ohio 
country where he became a chief, and, from the fact of his 
intermarriage with the Shawanoes, a Mingoe. He was a friend 
of the white men, by education and association, and one of the 
noblest of his race, not only by right of birth, but in considera- 
tion of his own character. During the Indian wars connected 
with the contest with France, he took no part save in the cha- 
racter of a peace-maker. In the spring of 1774, a company of 
land agents and traders on the Ohio came in collision with the 
Indians, and in retaliation for the loss of two of their men, 
succeeded in killing Logan's entire family, including his young- 
est brother and his sister. For this and similar acts, Logan 
placed himself at the head of a band of Ohio Senecas, and, in 
company with the Lenapes and Shawanoes under Cornstalk, in- 
vaded the Virginia border with fire and tomahawk. At the 
treaty of peace with Dunmore, Logan was not present. On 
being visited for the purpose of securing his assent to the terms, 
he delivered the famous speech which Jefferson has preserved 
in his Notes on Virginia, and which has become familiar wher- 
ever the English language is spoken : " I appeal to any white 
man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he 
gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he 
clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody 
war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. 

1 Memorials Moravian Church, i, 83. both were full-blooded Oneidas. Shikel- 

Shikellimy is called a Cayuga chief, by limy had three sons, John, James Logan, 

some writers, and his son a Mingoe, but and John Petty. He died in 1749. — 

the testimony of Reichel seems clear that Loskiel, 11, 119. 



316 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed, 
as they passed, and said, 4 Logan is the friend of the white men.' 
I had even thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one 
man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unpro- 
voked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing 
my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood 
in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for 
revenge. I have sought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully 
glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams 
of peace ; but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of 
fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to 
save his live. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 
Soon after the treaty at which this speech was delivered, J^ogan 
became intemperate, and on his return from one of his visits to 
Detroit was murdered in the woods. 

Among the distinguished men of the Five Nations at an 
earlier period was Garangula, who was called " the pride of 
the Onondaga tribe," and whose speech in reply to M. de la 
Barre, the governor of Canada, in 1684, is quoted by Thatcher 
and Drake. At the time of its delivery he was an old man, 
and disappears from history soon after. A man of more activity 
was the warrior called by the English, Black Kettle. Colden 
speaks of him as a " famous hero j " but few of his exploits 
have come down to the present time. " It is only known," 
says Thatcher, " that he commanded large parties of his country- 
men, who were exceedingly troublesome to the French. In 
1691, he made an irruption into the country around Montreal, 
at the head of several hundred men. " He overran Canada (say 
the French annalists), as a torrent does the low lands, when it 
overflows its banks, and there is no withstanding it. The troops 
of the stations received orders to stand upon the defensive ; and 
it was not until the enemy were returning home victorious, after 
having desolated the French possessions, that a force of four 
hundred soldiers was mustered to pursue them. Black Ket- 
tle is said to have had but half that number with him at this 
juncture, but he gave battle and fought desperately. After losing 
twenty men slain, with some prisoners, he broke through the 
French ranks and escaped, leaving a considerable number of his 



APPENDIX. 



317 



enemies wounded and killed." The story is no douDt exagge- 
rated, but the courage and daring of the famous chief is well attested. 
At a later period the names of Skenando, Cornplanter and 
Red Jacket are prominent in Indian annals. The former 
was of the Oneidas, and the author of this famous reply : " I am 
an aged hemlock ; the winds of an hundred winters have 
whistled through my branches ; I am dead at the top. The 
generation to which I belonged has run away and left me." 
He was one of the converts to the missionary, Kirkland ; was 
a warm friend of the Americans during the revolution, and died 
in 1816, at the age of one hundred and ten years. Corn- 
planter was a Seneca half-breed, his father being a Dutch 
trader. Red Jacket was a full-blooded Seneca. Both were 
distinguished for their eloquence, and both were engaged in the 
border wars of the revolution as inveterate enemies of the colo- 
nists. The former died in 1836, at the age of one hundred 
and one years, and the latter in 1830, aged about ninety years. 

Passaconnaway, who was at the head of the Pennacooks 
at the time of the discovery, was one of the most distinguished 
men of the Indian nations. " His name," says Schoolcraft, 
" is indicative of his warlike character — Papisseconewa, as writ- 
ten by himself, meaning The Child of the Bear." We first 
hear of him in 1627 or 8* Thomas Morton, in his New Eng- 
lish Canaan^ thus speaks of him, being in this country at that 
time : " That Sachem or Sagamore is a Powah of great estima- 
tion amongst all kind of salvages, there hee is at their Revels 
which is the time when a greate company of salvages meete 
from several parts of the country, in amity with their neighbors), 
hath advanced his honor in his feats or jugling tricks (as I may 
right tearme them J, to the admiration of the spectators, whom 
hee endeavored to perswade that hee v/ould goe under water to 
the further side of a river to broade for any man to undertake 
with a breath, which thing hee performed by swiming over and 
deluding the company with casting a mist before their eyes that 
see him enter in and come out ; but no part of the way he has 
bin seene ; likewise by our English in the heat of all summer, 
to make ice appear in a bowle of faire water, first having the 
water set before him, hee hath begunne his incantation accord- 



318 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



ing to their usual custom, and before the same hath bin ended, 
a thick cloude has darkened the aire, on a sodane a thunder clap 
hath bin heard that has amazed the natives ; in an instant hee 
hath showed a firme peece of ice to flote in the middest of the 
bowle in the presence of the vulgar people, which doubtless 
was done by the agility of Satan his consort." 

But he was something more than a juggler ; his ability as a 
warrior and as a ruler is acknowledged. Gookin wrote of him 
in 1675 : " He lived to a very great age, as I saw him alive at 
Pawtucket when he was about one hundred and twenty years 
old." Schoolcraft argues that -the time when Gookin saw him 
was in 1648, and hence that he was one hundred years old when 
the English first purchased land from him. He was converted 
by Eliot in 1648, and continued a professing Christian until the 
time of his death. In 1660, when about one hundred and 
thirty years old, he called his tribe around him and delivered his 
farewell speech. " The occasion," says Schoolcraft, " filled all 
with sorrow, in spite of Indian stoicism. Passaconnaway was 
deeply affected, and his voice, tremulous with age and emotion, 
still was musical and powerful — a splendid remnant of that 
whose power and beauty, in the fullness and vigor of manhood, 
had soothed or excited the passions of assembled savages, and 
moulded them to suit the purposes of the speaker. 

" Hearken," said he, " to the words of your father. I am 
an old oak, that has withstood the storms of more than an 
hundred winters. Leaves and branches have been stripped from 
me by the winds and frosts — my eyes are dim — my limbs 
totter — I must soon fall ! But when young and sturdy, when 
no young man of the Pennacooks could bend my bow — when 
my arrows would pierce a deer at an hundred yards, and I could 
bury my hatchet in a sapling to the eye — no weekwam had so 
many furs, no poll so many scalp-locks as Passaconaway's ! 
Then, I delighted in war. The whoop of the Pennacook was 
heard upon the Mohawk — and no voice so loud as Passacona- 
way's. The scalps upon the pole of my weekwam told the 
story of Mohawk suffering. 

" The English came, they seized our lands ; I sat me down 
at Pennacook. They followed upon my footsteps ; I made 



APPENDIX. 



319 



war upon them, but they fought with fire and thunder ; my 
young men were swept down before me when no one was near 
them. I tried sorcery against them, but still they increased and 
prevailed over me and mine, and I gave place to them, and 
retired to my beautiful island of Natticook. I, that can make 
the dry leaf turn green and live again ; I, that can take the rat- 
tlesnake in my palm as I would a worm, without harm ; I, who 
had communion with the Great Spirit, dreaming and awaking ; 
I am powerless before the pale faces. The oak will soon break 
before the whirlwind, it shivers and shakes even now; soon its 
trunk will be prostrate, the ant and the worm will sport upon 
it. Then think, my children, of what I say ; I commune with 
the Great Spirit. He whispers me now. ' Tell your people, 
peace, peace is the only hope of your race. I have given fire and 
thunder to the pale faces for weapons \ I have made them plentier 
than the leaves of the forest, and still they shall increase ! 
These meadows they shall turn with the plough, these forests 
shall fall by the axe, the pale faces shall live upon your hunting- 
grounds, and make their villages upon your fishing places/ The 
Great Spirit says this, and it must be so. We are few and 
powerless before them. We must bend before the storm. 
The wind blows hard ! The old oak trembles ! Its branches 
are gone ! Its sap is frozen ! It bends ! It falls ! Peace, peace 
with the white man is the command of the Great Spirit, and 
the wish — the last wish of Passaconnaway." 

The old chief did not die at that time, but his activity was 
so impaired that he abdicated his throne to his son Wannalancet. 
He died between 1663 and 1669 — the oldest, most learned, 
and most eloquent of his race. 

Soquans and Minichque appear as representatives of the 
Mahicans on the Hudson in 1700. The first was a speaker of 
more than ordinary merit, as his public addresses attest. 
Minichque is called the u great sachem " of his people, and 
great he certainly was in forgiving, upon his death-bed, his mur- 
derers, and praying that they might be spared the punishment 
due for the offense which they had committed. There is a 
moral grandeur in this, the crowning act of bis life, which appeals 
to every reasonable mind. It is to be regretted that so little is 



320 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



known of his history. There is no doubt he was one of the 
leaders of the Mahicans at the time the Mohawks appealed to 
the governor of Canada, to protect them against his nation, 1 and 
that he subsequently became firmly attached to the English 
government. He was an intemperate man, but in this was no 
exception to his race ; he was beloved by his people for his 
greatness as a savage ; his dying wish associates with his memory 
one of the " attributes of the gods." 

The " oldest man " among the Mahicans, when the New 
England missionaries first visited them, was Captain John 
Konapot. He was one of the signers to the deed to Parsons 
and his associates in 1724, and subsequently became an influen- 
tial member of the mission church at Stockbridge. Hopkins 
says of him : " Konapot, the principal man among the Muhhe- 
kanok of Massachusetts, was strictly temperate, very just and 
upright in his dealings, a man of prudence and industry, and 
inclined to embrace the Christian religion j " and Sergeant adds : 
" He is an excellent man, and I do believe has the true spirit of 
Christianity in him." He had from Gov. Belcher a commission 
as captain, and served his people and the Massachusetts govern- 
ment well and faithfully. His son, John Konapot, Jr., is 
said to have been the grandson of old King Hendrik of the 
Mohawks. The date of his death is not given, but it probably 
occurred about 1750. 

The most distinguished man of the Mahicans was Captain 
Hendrik Aupaumut, subsequently known as Captain Hen- 
drik, who appears to have sustained the most important rela- 
tion to his tribe and to the nation for nearly half a century. 2 
Of his birth and parentage nothing is known. He is first 

1 Brodkead, n, 161. death of King Solomon, the government, 

9 In 1771, Benjamin Kok-ke-we-nau- it is said, devolved upon Joseph Quan- 

naut, called King Benjamin, being 94 au-kaunt (pronounced, by the English at 

years of age, resigned his office of sachem, least, Quinney-hong, and now generally 

and requested his people to elect a succes- spelled Quinney), who divided his power 

sor. Solomon Un-haun-nau-waun-nutt more equally with his counsellors — Peter 

was chosen. He was acting in that ca- Poh-quon-nop-peet (pronounced Ponkne- 

pacity at the outbreak of the revolution and peet), Captain Hendrik Aupaumut and 

was addressed by the Massachusetts Con- Captain John Konapot, Jr. The wife 

vention. He died in February, 1777, while of Captain Hendrik and the wife of King 

Benjamin lived until 178 1, dying at the Solomon, were the sisters of King 

advanced age of 104 years. After the Joseph. — Stockbridge, Past and Present. 



APPENDIX. 



321 



introduced as the speaker in the conference with the Mohawk 
embassadors during the war of 1746. At the conference in 
Albany, in 1754, he represented his tribe, and in response to the 
governor, delivered the following address : 

" Fathers : We are greatly rejoiced to see you all here. It 
is by the will of Heaven that we are met here, and we thank 
you for this opportunity of seeing you altogether, as it is a long 
time since we have had such an one. 

"Fathers: Who sit present here, we will just give you a 
short relation of the long friendship which hath subsisted be- 
tween the white people of this country and us. Our forefathers 
had a castle on this river. As one of them walked out he saw 
something on the river, but was at a loss to know what it was. 
He took it at first for a great fish. He ran into the castle and 
gave notice to the other Indians. Two of our forefathers went 
to see what it was, and found it a vessel with men in it. They 
immediately joined hands with the people in the vessel and 
became friends. The white people told them they should not 
come any further up the river at that time, and said to them 
they would return back whence they came and come again in a 
year's time. According to their promise they returned back in 
a year's time, and came as far up the river as where the old fort 
stood. Our forefathers invited them on shore and said to them, 
here we will give you a place to make you a town ; it shall be 
from this place to such a stream, and from the river back up to 
the hill. Our forefathers told them, though they were now a 
small people they would in time multiply and fill up the land 
they had given to them. After they went ashore some time, 
some other Indians who had not seen them before, looked fiercely 
at them, and our forefathers observing it, and seeing the white 
people so few in number, lest they should be destroyed, took 
and sheltered them under their arms. But it turned out that 
those Indians did not desire to destroy them, but wished also to 
have the white people for their friends. At this time, which 
we have now spoken of, the white people were small, but we 
were very numerous and strong. We defended them in that 
low state, but now the case is altered. You are numerous and 
strong ; we are few and weak ; therefore we expect you to act 



322 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS, 



by us in these circumstances as we did by you in those we have 
just now related. We view you now as a very large tree which 
has taken deep root in the ground ; whose branches are spread 
very wide. We stand by the body of this tree and we look 
around to see if there be any who endeavor to hurt it, and if it 
should so happen that any are powerful enough to destroy it, 
we are ready to fall with it. 

" Fathers : You see how early we made friendship with you. 
We tied each other in a very strong chain. That chain has 
not yet been broken. We now clean and rub that chain to 
make it brighter and stronger, and we determine on our part 
that it shall never be broken, and we hope you will take care 
that neither you nor any one else shall break it. And we are 
greatly rejoiced that peace and friendship have so long subsisted 
between us. 

" Fathers : Don't think strange at what we are about to say. 
We would say something respecting our lands. When the 
white people purchased from time to time of us, they said they 
only wanted to purchase the low lands ; they told us the hilly 
land was good for nothing, and that it was full of wood and 
stones ; but now we see people living all about the hills and 
woods, although they have not purchased the lands. When 
we inquire of the people who live on these lands what right 
they have to them, they reply to us, that we are not to be 
regarded, and that these lands belong to the king ; but we were 
the first possessors of them, and when the king has paid us for 
them, then they may say they are his. Hunting now has 
grown very scarce, and we are not like to get our living that 
way. Therefore we hope our fathers will take care that we are 
paid for our lands that we may live^" 1 

In the war which followed, Hendrik served the English 
faithfully, and returned to his people with honor. In 1774, he 
represented his tribe at the Albany conference held by the com- 
missioners of the Continental Congress, and there delivered one 
of the most eloquent speeches in the English language. "Depend 
upon," said he, "we are true to you, and mean to join you. 
Wherever you go, we will be by your sides. Our bones shall 

1 Colonial Hi story , vi, 88 1. 



APPENDIX. 



323 



lie with yours. We are determined never to be at peace with 
the red coats, while they are at variance with you. We have 
one favor to beg : we should be glad if you would help us to 
establish a minister among us, that when our men are gone to 
war, our women and children may have the advantage of being 
instructed by them. If we are conquered, our lands go with 
yours ; but if you are victorious, we hope you will help us to 
recover our just rights." And in this spirit himself and his 
people fought to make a free nation for white men. 

Welcoming the missionaries among his people, Hendrik 
impressed upon them a recognition of his worth even while 
refusing to unite with them, and in all his intercourse with them 
and with the authorities, won, by his demeanor and his integrity, 
the tribute due to royalty. Says his biographer : " He was 
often employed as an interpreter, and in this capacity his strong 
memory, his clear, lucid manner, and his mind-illumed face, 
as he conveyed the thoughts of a preacher to his people, are 
highly praised. His public speeches are spoken of as always 
remarkable for perspicuity and sound sense. ' I have/ says our 
informant, ' seen many Indian chiefs, but never his equal ; ' " 
testimony which is the more valuable, coming as it does from 
one who had no personal ends to serve by magnifying the con- 
sequence of the people among whom he labored, and who at 
one time had " the Great Hendrik " of the Mohawks among 
his pupils. 

After the war of the revolution Hendrik was frequently 
employed by the government on missions to the western Indians, 
and was an important agent in the negotiations with them. 
In 1 8 io, says his biographer, Captain Hendrik 1 was on the 

1 Captain Hendrik was employed in this the Six Nations. Captain Hendrik is 
capacity at the suggestion of the Rev. well acquainted with their customs and 
Mr. Kirkland, who wrote to General manners, and has since the war received 
Knox, then secretary of war (April 22, several invitations to make them a visit. 
1 79 1 ), as follows : "As I deprecate an As you are in a measure a stranger to 
Indian war from every principle of hu- Captain Hendrik, allow me to say, from 
manity and policy, permit me, sir, to sug- long personal acquaintance with him, 
gest the idea of sending Captain Hendrik, that he is very little inferior to Corn- 
one of the chiefs of the Stockbridge tribe planter, who himself has a high esteem 
to the westward. This tribe had formerly for the Stockbridge chief." — Sparks' Life 
more influence with the Miamies, Shawa- of Kirkland. 
noes, Delawares and Chippewas, than all 



324 



HUDSON RIVER INDUNS. 



White river, with his son Abner, and designed to have settled 
on the land given the Mahicans by the Miamis. Here he 
formed the plan of collecting all the eastern Indians in that 
region at a place where they might live in peace with the whites, 
and in fellowship with each other. Before Tecumseh began his 
labors, Hendrik had sent a speech to his people on the subject, 
and was anxiously waiting for a reply, when his work was over- 
taken by the former and diverted into a gospel of hate. Then 
it was that the government paid to Hendrik the highest Com- 
pliment that could be given, by appointing him as the man most 
fit of all others to meet the eloquent chief of the Shawanoes on 
his own ground. For three years he followed the footsteps of 
Tecumseh and his brother, and so well and thoroughly did he 
combat their eloquence and their sophistry, that, had not the war 
of 1812 intervened, and the seductive influences of the British 
been given to the aid of the Shawanoes^ they would have been 
powerless for evil. Of his labors in this field the Rev. John 
Sergeant writes : " It appears that through the judicious arrange- 
ments of Captain Hendrik, the influence of the prophet is 
nearly at an end." His biographer adds : " Captain Hendrik 
himself says that the head men of the various tribes do not join 
the prophet, but only the ignorant and unwary ; that the mes- 
sage of the Delawares had already shut his mouth, and he 
believed that in the course of the next summer he would 4 be 
brought down from the Wabash, to the ground from which his 
ancestors were created,' and so it proved. We find nothing, in 
the public histories of those times respecting Captain Hendrik, 
but we do find that the battle of Tippecanoe was hazarded 
because the already waning power of Tecumseh required some 
desperate act ; and the eloquence of Captain Hendrik, his 
influence as a Muh-he-ka-neew chief with the western Indians, 
and the information communicated by Mr. Sergeant, take us 
4 behind the scenes,' and show us at least one great cause of 
that waning. All due honor to the 4 hero of Tippecanoe ; ' 
but let not the faithful Mahican, who, by sapping and mining, 
prepared the way for that victory, be forgotten." 1 

Stockbridge, Past and Present ; Stone's Life of Brant, n, 307. 



APPENDIX. 



325 



In the war of 1812, Captain Hendrik joined the American 
army, was favorably noticed, and promoted to office. In all 
his public duties he never for a moment forgot his people, and 
one of his last acts was to write a history of his nation. In 1829, 
he removed to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was gathered 
to his fathers, the "noblest Roman of them all." What his 
namesake was to the English government, Captain Hendrik 
was to the United States ; what his ^namesake was not to his 
people, Captain Hendrik was : an example of unselfish devo- 
tion and purity of character. 

Occum, a Mahican, was the first educated and ordained 
Indian minister. He attended Dr. Wheelock's school at Leba- 
non, about the middle of the eighteenth century, embraced 
Christianity and was baptized by the mame of Samson. He 
began his labors as a teacher and evangelist among the Mon- 
tauks on Long island, where he kept a school for some years. 
He was afterwards ordained by the Presbytery to preach 
the gospel, and became an efficient means of introducing 
Christianity to the Indian bands located at separate places in 
New England and New York. In 1755-56, he visited England, 
in company with the Rev. Mr. Whitaker, in order, by personal 
appeals, to solicit funds for the support of Dr. Wheelock's 
school. Not only was his mission successful, but, as he was 
the first Indian minister who had visited that country, he attracted 
special attention, and wherever he went crowds gathered to 
hear him. About 1786, he went to the country of the Oneidas, 
taking with him several Indians of kindred blood, who eking 
to him as their leader. He was subsequently joined by a 
number of Mohegans from the sea-coast of New England, and 
a few Nanticokes, Narragansetts and Pequots. Differences 
existing in their dialects, they agreed to drop them 
altogether, and adopt the English, taking the name of Brother- 
tons. He continued to devote himself to the interests of his 
people till age incapacitated him, and younger laborers* stepped 
in. During his old age, he went to live with his kindred 
at New Stockbridge, where he died in 1792. Schoolcraft 
adds : " It is expressly stated by the New England clergy, 
to whom we are indebted for these notices, that his Christian 



326 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



and ministerial character were well approved, and that he was 
deemed to possess a peculiar fluency and aptness in teaching the 
Indians, over whom he exercised a happy influence. It is 
inferable, but not distinctly said, that the first or early period 
of his ministry formed the one of his most active usefulness ; 
but his whole life, after his conversion, is to be regarded as a 
triumphant evidence of the power and endurance of the gospel 
truth in the Indian heart. Nor am I aware that we have a 
superior, if an equal, instance of an individual of the pure Indian 
blood having been ordained to the ministry who has left behind 
him so excellent a testimony of consistent usefulness. The 
foundation of the tribe of the Brothertons is a work due to his 
enterprise, foresight and exertions. The practical working of 
the plan which he introduced was excellent. The Brothertons 
continued to dwell together at their first location in Oneida 
county till they had well advanced in elementary education and 
the arts. At this period of their history, they sent delegates to 
Wisconsin to procure a cession of territory from the indigenous 
Indians of Fox river of that state, on the borders of Winne- 
bago lake. Having disposed of their possessions in Oneida 
county, they in due time migrated to that location, where they 
now reside. By an act of congress, the Brothertons of Wis- 
consin were admitted to all the rights of citizens of the United 
States. They were also admitted, by a state act, to the rights 
of citizens of Wisconsin. The problem of their triple emanci- 
pation from barbarism, idleness, and political defranchisement, 
is thus completely worked. out; and worked out in a practical 
way, in which the experience and wisdom of Occum and his 
clericalteachers of the olden time predicted, it could only be 
done." During his later years Occum's reputation passed under 
a cloud, and before his death he relapsed into some of the worst 
habits of his tribe ; but this fact cannot detract from his per- 
sonal worth or the excellence of his earlier life. Men can be 
found in all nations, whose record is marred by the weaknesses 
of age. " It is not conceived necessary to digress or deny the 
fact that Noah got drunk." 1 

1 History of Indian Nations t part v, 518, etc. 



APPENDIX. 



327 



The Moravian missionaries have preserved in their records 
the names and services of many of the Indian chiefs with whom 
they were associated, but none whose character is brighter than 
that of the Mahkan chieftain, Wasamapah, or Tsckoop, who, 
after his conversion was called 'John. He was the ruling 
chief at Shekomeko, in the present county of Dutchess. When 
first met by the missionary Rauch, he is described as the " great- 
est drunkard " among his people, and as being crippled by his 
vices. He became not only a convert, but an interpreter and a 
preacher of the word of life. Most eloquent is his own account 
of his conversion : " Brethren, I have been a heathen, and 
have grown old among the heathen, therefore I know how 
the heathen think. Once a preacher came and began to explain 
to us that there was a God. We answered : ' Dost thou 
think we are so ignorant as not to know that ? Go back to 
the place from whence thou earnest ? ' Then, again, another 
preacher came and began to teach us and to say, 4 You must 
not steal, nor lie, nor get drunk,' etc. We answered : ' Thou 
fool, dost thou think we don't know that ? Learn first thyself, 
and then teach the people, to whom thou belongest, to leave off 
these things ; for who steal and lie, or who are more drunken 
than thine own people ? ' and thus we dismissed him. After some 
time, Brother Christian Henry Rauch came into my hut and 
sat down by me. He spoke to me nearly as follows : ' I come 
to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He sends 
me to let you know that he is willing to make you happy, and 
to deliver you from the misery in which you are at present. 
To this end he became a man, gave his life as a ransom for 
man, and shed his blood for him.' When he had finished, he 
lay down upon a board, being fatigued with his journey, and 
fell into a sound sleep. I then thought, 1 What kind of a man 
is this ? There he lies and sleeps ; I might kill him and throw 
him into the woods, and who would regard it ? But this gives 
him no concern ! However, I could not forget his words. 
They constantly recurred to my mind. Even when I slept I 
dreamed of that blood which Christ shed for us. This was 
something different from what I had ever before heard, and I 
interpreted Christian Henry's words to the other Indians." 



328 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Wasamapach removed from Shekomeko to the Delaware, 
in August, 1745. Here he acted as interpreter in the service 
held for the Indians on Sunday afternoon ; he also gave instruc- 
tion in Mahican to a number of brethren and sisters who were 
designed for missionaries. On the organization of the refugees 
from Shekomeko into a Christian congregation, at Friedenshut- 
ten, on the 24th of July, 1746, he was appointed their teacher. 
Soon after the small pox broke out, and he became one of its 
victims, after an illness of seven days, during which he gave 
evidence of the thoroughness of his conversion. His death 
took place on the 27th of August, and his funeral on the 28th. 
Loskiel writes : " John was one of the first fruits. As a 
heathen he distinguished himself by his heathen and sinful prac- 
tices, and as his vices became more seductive, on account of 
his natural wit and humor, so as a Christian he became a most 
powerful and persuasive witness of our Saviour among his nation. 
His gifts were sanctified by the grace of God, and employed in 
such a manner as to be the means of blessing both to Euro- 
peans and Indians. Few of his countrymen could vie with him 
in point of Indian oratory. His discourses were full of anima- 
tion, and his words penetrated like fire into the hearts of his 
countrymen ; his soul found a rich pasture in the gospel, and 
whether at home, or on a journey, he could not forbear speak- 
ing of the salvation purchased for us by the sufferings of Jesus, 
never hesitating a moment, whether his hearers were Christians 
or Indians. In short, he appeared chosen by God to be a wit- 
ness to his people, and was four years active in this service. 
Nor was he less respected as a chief among the Indians, no 
affairs of state being transacted without his advice and consent." 
And Bishop Spangenberg adds : " In his mien was the majesty 
of a Luther, a man whose mind grappled as by intuition the 
glorious mysteries of the gospel of Christ, and whose strength 
of will, inspired and sanctified by Christianity, at once triumphed 
over the vilest passions and most hideous vices by which the 
human heart can be deformed." 

Shabasch, the associate of Wasamapab^ is also favorably 
spoken of by Loskiel. He became a convert and was baptized 
under the name of Abraham. He was appointed elder of the 



APPENDIX, 



329 



congregation at Shekomeko, and discharged its duties with 
credit. He subsequently accepted the chieftaincy of the Mahl- 
cans of the Delaware country and represented them in the con- 
ferences with Johnson, and also with the governor of Pennsyl- 
vania. He died in 1762, " much respected on account of his 
wisdom and grave deportment." 

The Wappingers were not without their hero in the person 
of Daniel' Nimham, who, in 1765, is described as "a native 
Indian and acknowledged sachem or king of a certain tribe of 
Indians known and called by the name of Wappingers." He 
appears to have taken up his residence at Westenhuck in 1746, 
and to have subsequently taken part in the war of that period 
and also of that of 1754. The proceedings to which he was a 
party for the recovery of the lands of his people, would occupy 
a volume. The facts stated in the case, as reported by the 
lords of trade, on the hearing of Nimham, who visited England, 
for that purpose, are " that the tract of land, the property and 
possession whereof is claimed by these Indians, and their title 
disputed, is situated between Hudson's river and the line which 
divides the province of New York from that of Connecticut, 
extending in length from east to west about twenty miles, and 
in breadth from north to south about sixteen miles, and con- 
taining about two hundred and four thousand and eight hundred 
acres of land ; that they continued in the uninterrupted posses- 
sion of these lands, and in the actual improvement and settle- 
ment of the same, by themselves and their tenants, until the 
commencement of the late war (1755), when the head sachem, 
accompanied by all the males of that tribe able to bear arms, 
went into your majesty's service under Sir William Johnson, 
and the residue removed to Stockbridge, for their greater con- 
venience and accommodation ; that whilst the said sachem and 
his people were fighting under your majesty's banner, all this 
tract of land was taken up by persons claiming under a grant 
thereof made by the governor of New York to one Adolph 
Phillipse in 1697, and afterwards purchased by him of the 
ancestors of the said Indians, which purchase they allege, was 
not a purchase of the whole tract comprehended in the grant 



330 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



of 1697, but only of a small part of it ; 1 that finding themselves 
by these claims likely to be dispossessed of their patrimonial 
lands, they chose a guardian of their rights, and proceeded to 
try their claim in various suits and actions in the courts of law 
of New York ; that judgment having been given against them 
on those several suits and actions (in the trial of which they 
state great prejudice and partiality), they applied by petition in 
February, 1765, to the lieutenant-governor and council, and 
had a hearing upon their case ; that in the proceedings before 
the lieutenant governor and council they were treated with great 
supercilious neglect, the claims of their adversaries countenanced 
and supported with apparent partiality, and a decision given 
against them upon the evidence of a deed of purchase of these 
lands from their ancestors, which deed they suggest to have 
been fraudulent and counterfeit." It subsequently appeared 
that Phillipse obtained his patent five years before he made his 
purchase, in violation of the laws of the province, and there is 
very little reason to doubt that he then obtained it from self- 
constituted proprietors to cover a most nefarious transaction. 
That Nimh am and the Wappingers were unlawfully deprived 
of the lands embraced in the present county of Putnam, may 
be regarded as certain. 2 

Nimham's tragic death, in Westchester county, has already 
been referred to. The following account of the engagement 
in which he sealed his devotion to the cause of the colonists 
with his life, is from the pen of those against whom he fought, 3 
American historians refusing, apparently, to do justice to the 
memory of one who was wronged in his life and in his death : 

" Lieut. Col. Simcoe, returning from head-quarters, the 30th 
of August, heard a firing in front, and being informed that 
Lieut. Col. Emerick had patrolled, he immediately marched to 
his assistance. He soon met him retreating ; and Lieut. Col. 



^he reference is to the Canopus' 
lands included in the manor of Cort- 
landt. 

a Phillipse did not live to enjoy his ill- 
gotten lands. On his death they became 
the property of his father, and afterwards 
of his heirs. John Jacob As£or subse- 



quently purchased the reversionary interest 
of the heirs, for $100,000, and ten years 
afterwards received from the state of New 
York $500,000 in six per cent stocks for 
the title which he had acquired. 
8 Simcoe 's Military Journal. 



APPENDIX. 



331 



Emerick being of opinion the rebels were in such force that it 
would be advisable for him to return, he did so. Lieut. Col. 
Simcoe understood that Nimham, an Indian chief, and some of 
his tribe, were with the enemy ; and by his spies, who were 
excellent, he was informed that they were highly elated at the 
retreat of Emerick's corps, and applied it to the whole of the 
light troops at Kingsbridge. Lieut. Col. Simcoe took measures 
to increase their belief ; and, ordering a day's provisions to be 
cooked, marched the next morning, the 31st of August, a small 
distance in front of the fort, and determined to wait there the 
whole day, in hopes of betraying the enemy into an ambuscade. 
His idea was, as the enemy moved upon the road, to advance 
from his flanks ; and he meant to gain the heights in the rear of 
the enemy, attacking whomsoever should be within reach by his 
cavalry and such infantry as might be necessary. In pursuance 
of these intentions, Lieut. Col. Emerick with his corps was 
detached from the Queen's Rangers and Legion, as Lieut. Col. 
Simcoe thought fully instructed in the plan ; however, he most 
unfortunately mistook the nearer house for the one at a greater 
distance, the names being the same, and there he posted himself, 
and soon after sent from thence a patrol forward upon the road, 
before Lieut. Col. Simcoe could have time to stop it. This 
patrol had no effect, not meeting the enemy ; had a single man 
of it deserted, or been taken, the whole attempt had, probably, 
been abortive. Lieut. Col. Simcoe, who was half way up a 
tree, on the top of which was a drummer boy, saw a flanking 
party of the enemy approach. The troops had scarcely fallen 
into their ranks when a smart firing was heard from the Indians, 
who had lined the fences of the road, and who were exchanging 
shots with Lieut. Col. Emerick, whom they had discovered. 
The Queen's Rangers moved rapidly to gain the heights, and 
Lieut. Col. Tarleton immediately advanced with the Hussars 
and the Legion of cavalry ; not being able to pass the fences in 
his front, he made a circuit to return further upon their right ; 
which, being reported to Lieut. Col. Simcoe, he broke from the 
column of rangers, with the grenadier company, and, directing 
Major Ross to conduct the corps to the heights, advanced to 
the road, and arrived without being perceived, within ten yards 



332 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



of the Indians. They had been intent on the attack on Eme- 
rick's corps and the Legion ; they now gave a yell and fired upon 
the grenadier company, wounding four of them, and Lieut. Col. 
Simcoe. They were driven from the fences; and Lieut. Col. 
Tarleton, with the cavalry, got among them, and pursued them 
rapidly down Cortlandt's ridge. That active officer had a nar- 
row escape ; in striking at one of the fugitives, he lost his 
balance and fell from his horse ; luckily the Indian had no bayo- 
net, and his musket had been discharged. Lieut. Col. Simcoe 
joined the battalion and seized the heights. A captain of the 
rebel light infantry and a few of his men were taken ; but a 
body of them, under Major Stewart, who afterwards was dis- 
tinguished at Stony Point, left the Indians and fled. Though 
the ambuscade, its greater part, failed, it was of consequence. 
Near forty of the Indians were killed or desperately wounded ; 
among others Nimham, a chieftain who had been to England, 
and his son; and it was reported to have stopped a large number 
of them, who were excellent marksmen, from joining General 
Washington's army. The Indian doctor was taken ; and he 
said that when Nimham saw the grenadiers close in his rear, 
he called out to his people to fly, 4 that he himself was old and 
would die there.' He wounded Lieut. Col. Simcoe, and was 
on the point of dragging him from his horse, when he was 
killed by Wright, his orderly Hussar. The Indians fought most 
gallantly ; they pulled more than one of the cavalry from their 
horses. French, an active youth, bugle-horn to the Hussars, 
struck at an Indian, but missed him ; the man dragged him 
from his horse, and was searching for his knife to stab him, 
when, loosening French's hand, he luckily drew out a pocket 
pistol, and shot the Indian through the head, in which situation 
he was found. One man of the Legion Cavalry was killed, 
and one of them and two of the Hussars, wounded." 
The battlements of the Hudson, — 

" The mountain columns 

With which earth props heaven," — 

the early home of the patriot chief, are the monuments to his 
memory ; the eternal flow of the Mahicanituk his requiem. 



APPENDIX. 



333 



II. Language. 

HE early Dutch writers resolved the various dialects 
which they met among the Indians into " four dis- 
tinct languages, namely : Manhattan, Mlnqua, 
Savanos, and Wappanoos" With the Manhattan 
they included the dialect spoken in the neighborhood of Fort 
Amsterdam, "along the North river, on Long island, and at 
the Neversink ; with the Minqua, the Senecas and other inland 
tribes." The Savanos was the dialect of the south, and the 
Wappanoos that of the east. The progress of the inquiry 
resulting in this classification was slow. Wassanaar writes, 
in 1621 : u 'Tis worthy of remark, that so great a diversity of 
language exists among the numerous tribes. They vary fre- 
quently not over five or six miles ; forthwith comes another 
language ; they meet and can hardly understand one another. 
There are some who come sixty miles from the interior, and 
cannot well understand those on the river." Michaelius, writ- 
ing in 1 628, says : " Their language methinks is entirely peculiar. 
Many of our common people call it an easy language, which is 
soon learned, but I am of a contrary opinion. For those who 
can understand their words to some extent and repeat them, fail 
greatly in the pronunciation and speak a broken language, like 
the language of Ashdod. For these people have different aspi- 
rates and many guttural letters which are formed more in the 
throat than by the mouth, teeth, and lips, which our people not 
being accustomed to, guess at by means of their signs, and then 
imagine that they have accomplished something wonderful. It 
is true, one can learn as much as is sufficient for the purposes 
of trading, but this occurs almost as much by signs with the 
thumb and fingers as by speaking. It also seems to us that they 
rather design to conceal their language from us than to properly 
communicate it, except in things which happen in daily trade ; 
saying that it is sufficient for us to understand them in those : 
and then they speak only half their reasons with shortened 
words ; and frequently call a dozen things and even more by 




334 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



one name ; and- all things which have only a rude resemblance 
to each other they frequently call by the same name. In truth 
it is a made up childish language : so that even those who can 
best of all speak with the Indians and get along well in trade, 
are nevertheless wholly in the dark and bewildered when they 
hear the Indians speaking with each other by themselves. " 
Another writer says : " The language of this people is very 
various ; they are very difficult for strangers to learn as they 
are spoken without any principles." And Van der Donck, 
writing in 1656, concludes: "Their languages and dialects are 
very different, as unlike each other as the Dutch, French, Greek 
and Latin are. Their declensions and conjugations have an 
affinity with the Greek and accord to it. Their declensions, 
augmentations, cases and adverbs, are like the Greek ; but to 
reduce their language to any of ours, would be impossible, for 
there is no resemblance between the same. Before we have 
acquired a knowledge of any of their languages or dialects, we 
know no more of what they say than if a dog had barked." 

While these sturdy Dutch linguists were plodding over the 
subject, the Rev. John Eliot, of Massachusetts, had grasped 
the hidden key of the language and proclaimed that it had prin- 
ciples and form ; that even that which Michaelius denominated 
" shortened words " was made in accordance with rules, and 
that in the observation of that writer of the fact that they fre- 
quently called " a dozen things and even more by one name," 
he had simply failed to note the inflections which constituted 
an important principle of the language. But notwithstanding 
the publication of Eliot's grammar in 1666, and the observations 
of the Jesuit and Moravian priests, it was not until 18 19 that 
Du Ponceau, after a thorough comparison of the writings of 
his predecessors, was enabled to announce the proposition : 
" That the American languages in general use are rich in words 
and in grammatical forms, and that, in their complicated con- 
struction, the greatest order, method, and regularity prevail." 
It remained, however, for subsequent writers, and especially for 
Gallatin 1 and Schoolcraft, to elucidate fully the grammatical 

1 A Synopis of the Indian Tribes within tains, etc., by Hon. Albert Gallatin, 1 8 36. 
the United States east of the Rocky Moun- 



APPENDIX. 



335 



structure of the languages and define the characteristic features 
of the several dialects. 

According to these writers there were but two generic Indian 
languages, the Algonquin and the Iroquois ; but these two were 
divided into tribal dialects and groups with distinctive charac- 
teristics. While each Iroquois tribe had its dialect, the generic 
language, as spoken by the Five Nations of New York, differed 
in many respects from that spoken by the southern and western 
Iroquois families. The Algonquin was represented by equally 
distinct tribal and general types. Edwards says that the Mahi- 
can was spoken u by all the Indians throughout New England ; " 
that though each tribe had "a different dialect," the language 
was " radically the same." Yet the Algonquin of the Mohicans 
was essentially different from the Algonquin of the Lenapes. 
Loskiel explains this more fully : " Though the three tribes of 
the Delawares have the same language, yet they speak different 
dialects. The Unamis and Wunalachtikos, who formerly 
inhabited the eastern coast of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
nearly agree in pronunciation ; but the dialect of the Monsys, 
who formerly lived in Menissing, beyond the Blue mountains, 
differs so much from the former, that they would hardly be able 
to understand each other, did they not keep up a continual 
intercourse. The language of the Delawares has an agreeable 
sound, both in common conversation, and public delivery. 
The dialect spoken by the Unamis and Wunalachtikos is pecu- 
liarly grateful to the ear, and much more easily learnt, by an 
European, than that of the Monsys, which is rougher and spoken 
with a broad accent. However, the Monsy dialect is a key to 
many expressions in the Unamis and Wunalachtikos. The latter 
have a way of dropping some syllables, so that, without a 
knowledge of the former, it would be impossible either to spell 
their words or guess their meaning. 

" Several other languages derive their origin from the Delaware, 
and this proceeds chiefly from the vicinity or connections of the 
different nations and tribes. For instance, the language of the 
Mahikans is nearly related to the Monsy dialect, these two na- 
tions having formerly been neighbors in the province of New 
York. The Shawanose is also related to the Monsy, but more 



336 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



to the Mabikan; only the former generally place the accent 
upon the last syllable. The Ottawa is nearly related to the 
Shawanose, but the Chippewa more immediately to the Delaware, 
The language of the Twichtwees and Wawiachtanos resembles 
the Shawanose ; in dialect the Kikapus, Tukachohas, Moshkos, 
and Karhaski, differ from the Delaware in proportion to their 
distance from each other, but all are nearly related. " 

The Algonquin dialects spoken in the valley of the Hudson, 
at the time of the discovery, were at least six in number : The 
Manhattan, the Wappanoo, the Mahican, the Minsi, the Unami 
and the Unalacbtin. It is stated that the Mahicans conquered 
the territory which they occupied, mixed with their own the 
dialect of the people whom they had subdued and formed that 
subsequently spoken by themselves. It is also said that the 
Wappanoos overran the old Manhattans and created another 
mixed dialect, while the third type was found among the na- 
tives of Long Island, in which perhaps many of the essential 
features of the Manhattan were preserved. Of the three types 
on the west, the Unami and the Unalacbtin are classed as 
Delaware as distinguished from the Minsi. The Mahican 
has been preserved, partially at least, as has also to some extent 
the Long Island, — the latter extending along the east side of the 
river as far as the Highlands, where it met the Wappanoos, 
which has been preserved as spoken by its more eastern families 
in the Massachusetts ; but the dialects on the west, as they 
were modified by association with those on the east, and the 
dialects of the east as modified by association with those on 
the west, are lost except as they live in geographical names, 
which resist established rules of interpretation, or are approxi- 
mately preserved as they were spoken elsewhere, modified by 
different associations. How widely they differed, can be inferred 
from Loskiel's statement that the Minsi of the Hudson resem- 
bled the Mahican and the Shawanoe and was scarce understood by 
its more western families — how widely they differ in the imper- 
fect forms in which they have been preserved, a few words from 
each will sufficiently illustrate. Man, in Long Island, is 
run ; wonnun (white man) in Wappinoo or Massachusetts, 
wosketomp ; in Mahican neemanoo; in Delaware and Minsi, lenno. 
Mother, in Long Island, is cwca ; in Massachusetts, okaooh ; 



APPENDIX. 



337 



in Mahican, okegan ; in Minsi, guy; in Delaware, gahowes. 
Stone, in Long Island, is sun ; in Massachusetts, hussun; in Ma- 
hican, thaunaumka; in Minsi, achsun\ in Delaware, akhsin 
(stone), pemapukhk (rock). Earth, in Long Island, is keagh ; in 
Massachusetts, ahke; in Mahican, akek; in Minsi, achgi; in 
Delaware, aki, akhki. 

But while the peculiar dialects of the valley have been lost, 
or have at best an imperfect preservation, the principles upon 
which they were based have been written. Gallatin says : 
u The fundamental characteristics of the Indian languages of 
America appear to be a universal tendency to express in the 
same word, not only all that modifies or relates to the same 
object, or action, but both the action and the object ; thus con- 
centrating in a single expression a complex idea, or several ideas 
among which there is a natural connection. All the other fea- 
tures of the language seem to be subordinate to that general 
principle. The object in view has been attained by various 
means of the same tendency and often blended together : a 
multitude of inflections properly so called ; a still greater num- 
ber of compound words, sometimes formed by the coalescence 
of primitive words not materially altered, more generally by the 
union of many such words in a remarkably abbreviated form, 
and numerous particles, either significative, or the original 
meaning of which has been lost, prefixed, added as terminations, 
or inserted in the body of the word." An extreme illustration 
of this principle is furnished by Mather, in the compound phrase 
" Kummogkodonattoottummooetiteaongannunnonash," which is 
presumed to imply, " our question." Edwards illustrates it in a 
simpler form in the Mahican. "If a man hold out his hand 
to an Indian to know the name, he may receive the answer 
" knish" — thy hand ; but if he touches the hand of the Indian^ 
he is told " nnisk" — my hand ; and in either case he will infer 
that he has received the Indian word for hand, simply, when 
there is no such word in the language." Schoolcraft, in his 
treatise, 1 explains this principle more fully and defines the idioms 
and structure of the language. From this treatise the annexed 
synopsis is made, presuming that those having occasion to do so, 

lw An Essay on the Grammatical Struc- of Indian Tribes, part n, 353, etc. 
ture of the Algonquin Language." —History 



338 HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 

! 

or whose curiosity prompts them to the study, will consult the 
original. 

Grammar of the Algonquin Language, 

I. Alphabet. The Algonquin possesses all the vowel sounds 
as heard in far, fate, fall ; met, meet ; shine, pin ; not, note, 
move ; put, nut. It has two labials, b and/>; five dentals, d, 
/, j, z, and j or g, soft j two nasals, m and n ; and two primary 
gutturals, k and g, hard. The letters f y r, <y, are wanting. The 
sound of x is also believed to be wanting in all the Algonquin 
dialects but the Delaware and Mahican of the Hudson valley, 
in which it is fully heard in Coxsackie, and in a few of the ear- 
lier geographical terms of New Jersey, the sound of r is repre- 
sented in ah. Thus an alphabet of five vowels and thirteen 
consonants is capable of expressing, either simply or in com- 
bination, every full sound of the Algonquin language. In this 
estimate of primary sounds, the letters £, and ^, and y as re- 
presenting a vowel sound, are entirely rejected. The soft of 
c is j, the hard, k. The sound of g is always that of k. In the 
formation of words the vowelic, diphthongal and mixed sounds 
are syllabic. The following table represents the elementary 
syllables on the primary vowel sounds : 



CO 


CO 


(3) 


CO 


as A in Fate. 


A as in Father. 


A as in Fall. 


A as in Hat 


Aib Bai 


Ahb Bah 


Aub Bau 


only uttered with a con- 
sonant following. 


Aid Dai 


Ahd Dah 


Aud Dau 


Ab 


Aig Gai 


Ahg Gah 


Aug Gau 


Ad 


Aih Hai 


Ah Hah 


Auh Hau 


Ag 


Aik Kai 


Ahj Jah 


Auj Jau 


Ah 


Ail Lai 


Ahk Kah 


Auk Kau 


Aj 


Aij Jai 


Ahl Lah 


Aul Lau 


Ak 


Aim Mai 


Ahm Mah 


Aum Mau 


Al 


Ain Nai 


Ahn Nah 


Aun Nau 


Am 


Aip Pai 


A hp Pah 


Aup Pau 


An 


Ais Sai 


Ahs Sah 


Aus Sau 


A P 


Ait Tai 


Aht Tah 


Aut Tau 


As 


Aiw Wai 


Ahw Wah 


Auw Wau 


At 


Aiz Yai 


Ahz Zah 


Auz Yau 


Au 


Aizh Zhai 




Auzh Zhau 


Az 



APPENDIX. 



339 



(0 


(2) 


EE as in me 


E as in met 


Eeb Bee 


Eb 


Eed Dee 


Ed 


Eeg Gee 


Eg 


Eeh He 


Eh 


Eej Jee 


Ej 


Eel Lee 


Ek 


Eek Kee 


El 


Eem Mee 


Em 


Een Nee 


En 


Eep Pee 


Ep 


Ees See 


Es 


Eet Tee 


Et 


Eew Wee 


Eu 


Eez Zee 


Ez 


CO 


00 


U as in Note 


O as in Move. 


Bo 


Oob Boo 


Do 


Ood Doo 


Go 


Oog Goo 


Ho 


Ooh Hoo 


Jo 


Ooj Joo 


Ko 


Ook Koo 


Lo 


Ool Loo 


Mo 


Oom Moo 


No 


Oon Noo 


Po 


Oop Poo 


So 


Oos Soo 


To 


Oot Too 


Wo 


Oow Woo 


Yo 


Ooy Yoo 


Zo 


Ooz Zoo 



(■) 


CO 


I as in Fine. 


I as in Pin. 


Bi 


Ib 


Di 


Id 


Gi 


Ig 


Hi 


Ih 


Ji 


Ij 


Ki 


Ik 


Li 


11 


Mi 


Im 


Ni 


In 


Pi 


IP 


Si 


Is 


Ti 


It 


W i 


Iw 


Yi 


Iz 


Zi 




(4) 




0 as in Not. 


U as in But. 


Ob 


Ub 


Od 


Ud 


Og 


Ug 


Oh 


Uh 


Oj 


Uj 


Ok 


Uk 


Ol 


Ul 


Om 


Urn 


On 


Un 


Op 


Up 


Os 


Us 


Ot 


Ut 


Ow 


Uz 


Oy 




Oz 





Diphthongal sounds are heard in limited classes of words, end- 
ing in ia, io, and ou. The nasal sounds, which abound in the 
language, are chiefly confined to the letter «, and the combina- 
tion ng. The gutturals are mostly formed by the letters gh and 
kh. The hard sound of g has its expression in the half utterance 



340 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



of k by which it is followed, as in the attempt to pronounce gk. 
The combinations of ch, sh, and are common, as are also 
those of bw, dm, gw, and hw. Ai expresses the sound of a as in 
fate ; ah the sound of a as in father ; au, as in fall, auction, and 
au in law ; ee is the sound of e as in feel ; w, as the sound of i 
in media ; w, the sound of 0 in voice ; aiw, ouw and eow appear 
in converting verbs indicative into different moods ; ih y the 
sound of i suddenly stopped off ; ooh, the sound of o suddenly 
stopped off ; uh, the sound of a, roughly aspirated, and also ugh ; 
ch, as in English, also, sh and zh ; bw as in bwoin; gw as in 
gwiuk ; hw as in mohwa; kw as in wewukwun ; mw as in 
wa-mwa; ny as in nyau ; tshw as in tshwe — tshwees-ke-wa, a 
snipe. 

2. Substantives. In a general survey of the language there is 
perhaps no feature which obtrudes itself so constantly to view, 
as the principle which separates all words, of whatever denomi- 
nation, into animates and inanimates, as they are applied to 
objects in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom. This 
principle has been grafted upon most words, and carries its dis- 
tinctions throughout the syntax. It is the gender of the lan- 
guage; but a gender of so unbounded a scope, as to merge it 
in the distinctions of a masculine and feminine, and to give a 
two-fold character to the parts of speech. 

Nouns animate embrace the tribes of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, 
insects, reptiles, Crustacea, the sun, moon, and stars, thunder, 
and lightning j for these are personified, and whatever possesses 
animal life, or is endowed, by the peculiar opinions and super- 
stitions of the Indians, with it. In the vegetable kingdom their 
number is comparatively limited, being chiefly confined to trees, 
and those only' while they are referred to as whole bodies, and 
to the various species of fruits, seeds, and esculents. It is to 
be remarked, however, that the names for animals are only 
employed as animates, while the objects are referred to as whole 
and complete species ; but the gender must be changed when it 
becomes necessary to speak of separate members. Man, woman, 
father, mother, are separate nouns, so long as the individuals are 
meant ; but hand, foot, head, eye, ear, tongue, are inanimates. 
Buck is an animate noun, while his entire carcase is referred to, 



APPENDIX. 



341 



whether living or dead ; but neck, back, heart, windpipe, take 
the inanimate form. In like manner eagle, swan, dove, are 
distinguished as animates ; but beak, wing, tail, are arranged 
with inanimates. So oak, pine, ash, are animates ; branch, 
leaf, root, inanimates. 

No language is perhaps so defective as to be totally without 
number. But there are few which furnish so many modes of 
indicating it as the Algonquin. There are as many modes of 
forming the plural as there are vowel sounds, yet there is no dis- 
tinction between a limited and an unlimited substantive plural ; al- 
though there is, in the pronoun, an inclusive and an exclusive plu- 
ral. Whether we say man or men, two men or twenty men, the 
singular inin-e, and the plural ininewug, remain the same. But 
if we say we, us or our men (who are present), or we, us, or 
our Indians (in general), the plural we, and us, and our — for 
they are rendered by the same form — admit of a change to in- 
dicate whether the objective person or persons be included or 
excluded. This principle forms a single and anomalous instance 
of the use of particular plurals ; and it carries its distinctions, 
by means of the pronouns, separable and inseparable, into the 
verbs and substantives, creating the necessity of double conju- 
gations and double declensions, in the plural forms of the first 
person. Thus the term for Our Father, which, in the inclusive 
form, is Kosinaun, is, in the exclusive, Nosinaun. 

The general plural is variously made. But the plurals mak- 
ing inflections take upon themselves an additional power or 
sign, by which substantives are distinguished into animates and 
inanimates. Without this additional power, all nouns plural 
would end in the vowels a, e, i, o, u ; but to mark the gender, 
the letter g is added to animates, and the letter n to inanimates, 
making the plurals of the first class terminate in ag, eeg, ig, og, 
ug, and of the second class in an, een, in, on, un. Ten modes 
of forming the plural are thus provided, five of which are ani- 
mate, and five inanimate plurals. A strong and clear distinc- 
tion is thus drawn between the two classes of words, so unerring 
indeed, in its application, that it is only necessary to inquire how 
the plural is formed to determine whether it belong to one or 
the other class. 



342 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Where a noun terminates with the vowel in the singular, the 
addition of the g, or «, shows at once both the plural and the 
gender. In other instances, as in peena, a partridge ; seebe, a 
river ; it requires a consonant to precede the plural vowel, in 
conformity with a rule previously stated. Thus peenai-wug ; 
and seebe-wun. Where the noun singular terminates in the 
broad instead of the long sound of as in ogimau, a chief ; 
ishpatinau, a hill, the plural is ogim-aug, ishpatinaun. But these 
are mere modifications of two of the above forms, and are by 
no means entitled to be considered as additional plurals. 

Comparatively few substantives are without number. There 
is, however, one exception from the general use of number. 
This exception consists of the want of number in the third per- 
son of the declensions of animate nouns, and the conjugation of 
animate verbs. Not that such words are destitute of number, 
in their simple forms, or when used under circumstances requir- 
ing no change of these simple forms — no prefixes and no inflec- 
tions. But it will be seen, at a glance, how very limited such 
an application must be in a transpositive language. 

Distinctions of number are founded upon a modification of 
the five vowel sounds. Possessives are likewise founded upon 
the basis of the vowel sounds. There are five declensions of 
the noun to mark the possessives, ending, in the possessive, in 
am, eem, im, om, urn, oom. Where the nominative ends with a 
vowel, the possessive is made by adding the letter as in mat- 
mai, a woodcock, ne maimaim, my woodcock, etc. Where 
the nominative ends in a consonant, as in aiij a shell, the full 
possessive inflection is fequired, making nin dais-im, my shell. 
In the latter form, the consonant d is interposed between the 
pronoun and noun, and sounded with the noun, in conformity 
with a general rule. Where the nominative ends in the broad, 
in lieu of the long sound of as in ogimau, a chief, the posses- 
sive is aum. 

It is a constant and unremitting aim in the Indian languages, 
to distinguish the actor from the object ; partly by prefixes, and 
partly by inseparable suffixes. That the termination un is one 
of these inseparable particles, and that its office, while it con- 
founds the number of the third person, is to designate the 



APPENDIX. 



343 



object, appears probable, from the fact that it retains its connec- 
tion with the noun, whether the latter follow or precede the 
verb, or whatever its position in the sentence may be. 

In tracing the operation of the rule through the doublings of 
the language, it is necessary to distinguish every modification 
of sound, whether it is accompanied, or not accompanied, by a 
modification of the sense. The particle which thus marks 
the third person and persons, is sometimes pronounced wun, and 
sometimes yun, as the euphony of the word to which it is suf- 
fixed may require. But not the slightest change is thereby 
made in its meaning. 

Substantives require, throughout the language, separable or 
inseparable pronouns, under the form of prefixes. Inflections 
of the first and second persons, which occupy the place of pos- 
sessives, and those of the third person, resembling objectives, 
pertain to words which are either primitives, or denote but a 
single object, as moose, fire. There is, however, another class 
of substantives, or substantive expressions, and an extensive 
class — for it embraces a great portion of the compound de- 
scriptive terms — in the use of which no pronominal prefixes 
are required. The distinctions of person are, exclusively, sup- 
plied by pronominal suffixes. Of this class are the words de- 
scriptive of country, place of dwelling, field of battle, place of 
employment, &c. Thus, Aindaud, home or place of dwelling, 
in the substantive singular's Aindauyaun, my home; Aindau- 
yun, thy home; Aindau-d, his home. And the substantive 
plural is Aindau-yaun-in, my homes ; Aindau-yun-in, thy 
homes ; Aindau-yaung-in, our homes, &c. 

Substantives have modifications by which locality, diminution, 
a defective quality, and the past tense are expressed ; by which 
various adjectives and adverbal significations are given ; and 
finally the substantives themselves converted into verbs. Such 
are, also, the modes of indicating the masculine and feminine 
(both merged in the animate class), and those words which are 
of a strictly sexual character, or are restricted in their use to 
males or females. 

That quality of the noun which, in the shape of an inflection, 
denotes the relative situation of the object by the contiguous 



344 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



position of some accessory object, is expressed, in the English 
language, by the prepositions in, into, at or on. In the Indian 
they are denoted by an inflection. Thus the phrase, in the 
box, is rendered, in the Indian, by one word, mukukoong ; the 
termination oong denoting the locality, not of the box, but of the 
object sought after. Generally, the inflection is employed when 
there is some circumstance or condition of the noun either con- 
cealed, or not fully apparent. The principal local inflections 
are ing and oong, which become aing and eeng as the terminal 
vowel of the noun may require, hhkodai, fire ; hhkod-aing, 
in or on the fire ; Sebe, river ; Sebeeng, in or on the river ; Kon, 
snow ; Kon-ing, in or on the snow ; Azhibik, rock ; Azhibik- 
oong, in or on the rock, &c. 

The local form pertains either to such nouns of the animate 
class as are in their nature inanimates, or at most possessed of 
vegetable life. There is another variation of the local form of 
the noun, indicative of locality in a more general sense. It is 
formed by ong or nong, frequent terminations in geographical 
names. Thus, from Ojibwai (Chippewa) is formed Ojibwainong, 
place of the Chippewas. The termination ing is also sometimes 
employed, as Monomonikaun-ing, in the place of wild rice, &c. 

The diminutive forms of the noun are indicated by ais, ees, 
os, and aus, as the final vowel of the word may require. Thus, 
Ojibwai, a Chippewa, becomes Ojibw-tf/V, a little Chippewa j 
Amik, a beaver, Amik-w, a young beaver ; Minnis, an island, 
Minnis-^zV, a small island ; Sbo/nin, a. grape, Shomin-ais, a little 
grape ; Ossin, a stone, Ossin-<?^, a small stone ; Sebe, a river, 
Seb-^{, a small river ; Negik, an otter, Negik-w, a small otter ; 
Wakiegun, a house, Wakieg-##j, a small house. These diminu- 
tives, as far as they can be employed, supersede the use of ad- 
jectives, and are happily employed by the Indian in expressing 
ridicule or contempt. When applied to animals, or to inorganic 
objects, their meaning, however, is very nearly limited to an 
inferiority in size or age. Sometimes both the local and di- 
minutive inflections are employed. * Thus the word minnisain- 
sing signifies, literally, in the little island. 

The syllable ish, when added to a noun, indicates a bad or 
dreaded quality, or conveys the idea of imperfection or decay. 



APPENDIX. 



345 



The sound of this inflection is sometimes changed to eesh, oosh, 
or aush. Thus Eckwai^ a woman, becomes Eckwai-z^z^, a 
bad woman ; Nebi^ water, becomes Nebe-*j^, strong water ; 
Webeed, a tooth, becomes Webeed-tfz^, a decayed or aching 
tooth. The rule is nearly universal that the final sound of sh y 
in any of its forms, is indicative of a faulty quality. 

Substantives have, therefore, a diminutive form, made in ais, 
ees, oj, or aus ; a derogative form, made in isb y eesh^ oosh, or 
aush ; and a local form, made in aing, eeng, ing, or ong. By a 
principle of accretion, the second and third may be added to 
the first form, and the third to the second. 

While substantives have their primitive and derivative forms, 
they also appear as compounds. Among the primitives may be 
found dissyllables and possibly trisyllables ; but as a principle, 
all polysyllabic words, all words of three syllables, and most 
words of two syllables, are compounds. 

3. Adjectives. It has been remarked, that the distinction of words 
into animates and inanimates, is a principle intimately interwoven 
throughout the structure of the language, constituting indeed 
its fundamental principle. In the plural only of the substantive 
is the adjective indicated. One set of adjective symbols express 
the ideas peculiarly appropriate to animates, and another set is 
exclusively applicable to inanimates. Good and bad, black and 
white, great and small, handsome and ugly, have such modifica- 
tions as are practically competent to indicate the general nature 
of the objects referred to, whether provided with, or destitute 
of, the vital principle. And not only so, but by the figurative 
use of these forms, to exalt inanimate masses into the class of 
living beings, or to strip the latter of the properties of life. 

Examples illustrating this principle are quoted, and explained 
in complex and simple forms. Of the latter, it is said : Ask a 
Chippewa the name for a rock, and he will answer, auzhebik. 
Ask him the name for red rock, and he will answer, miskwau- 
bi'k ; for white rock, waubaubik ; for black rock, mukkuddauuau- 
hik ; for bright rock, wassyaubik ; for yellow rock, ozabwaubik ; 
for green rock, oxahwushkwaubik ; for smooth rock, shoishk- 
waubik, etc., compounds in which the words, red, white, black 
yellow, etc., unite with aubik. 



346 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Let this mode of interrogation be continued, and extended to 
other adjectives, or the same adjectives applied to other objects, 
and results equally regular and numerous will appear. Minnis, 
we shall be told, is an island ; miskominnis, 2. red island ; muk- 
kuddaminnis, a black island, etc. Annokwut, is a cloud ; misk- 
waunakwut, a red cloud ; waubaknokwut, a white cloud, etc. 
Ntebe is the specific term for water, but is not generally used 
in combination with the adjective. The word goma, like aubo, 
appears to be a generic term for water or potable liquids. 
Hence, gitshee, great, gitshig-guma\ great water ; minno, good, 
minwau-guma, good drink, etc. Baimwa is sound ; baimwawd, 
the passing sound ; minw'dwa, a pleasant sound ; mudwayaussh- 
kau, the sound of waves dashing on the shore. These exam- 
ples might be continued ad infinitum. Every modification of 
circumstances, almost every peculiarity of thought, is expressed 
by some modification of the orthography. Enough has been 
given to prove that the adjective combines itself with the sub- 
stantive, the verb, and the pronoun ; that the combinations thus 
produced are numerous, afford concentrated modes of convey- 
ing ideas, and oftentimes happy terms of expression. 

Varied as the adjective is in its changes, it has no compara- 
tive inflection. A Chippewa cannot say, that one substance is 
hotter or colder than another ; or of two or more substances 
unequally heated, that this or that is the hottest or coldest, with- 
out employing adverbs or accessory adjectives. And it is accord- 
ingly by adverbs and accessory adjectives that the degrees of 
comparison are expressed. Pemnaudizziwin is a very good 
substantive expression, indicating the tenor of being or life. 
Nem bimmaud-izziwin, my tenor of life ; Ke bimmaud-izzi- 
win, thy tenor of life. To form the positive degree, minno y 
good, and mudjee, bad, is introduced between the pronoun d 
and the verb, thus : Ne minno pimmaud-izziwin, my good tenor 
of life ; Ne mudjee pimmaud-izziwin, thy bad tenor of life. To 
c nstitute the comparative degree, nakwudj, more, is prefixed to 
the adjective. When the adjective is preceded by the adverb, 
it assumes a negative form. 

4. Pronouns. Pronouns are buried, if we may so say, in the 
structure of the verb. In tracing them back, to their primitive 



APPENDIX. 



347 



forms, through the almost infinite variety of modifications which 
they assume in connection with the verb, substantive, and ad- 
jective, it will facilitate analysis to group them into preforma- 
tive and subformative classes ; terms which have already been 
made use of, and which include the pronominal prefixes and 
suffixes. They admit of the further distinction of separable 
and inseparable pronouns. By separable is intended those forms 
which have a meaning by themselves, and are thus distinguished 
from the inflective and subformative pronouns, and pronominal 
particles ; significant only in connection with another word. 

Of the first class are the personal pronouns nee (I), kee (thou), 
and wee, or o (he or she), which are declined, to form the plu- 
ral persons, by neen owind, keen owau, ween owau. The plural 
of the possessive mine, or my, in the inclusive, is made by k 
the pronominal sign of the second person, and the usual sub- 
stantive inflection in win, with a terminal d. The letter o is 
a mere connective, without meaning. The second person is 
rendered plural by the particle, au instead of win. The third 
person has its plural in the common sign of w. The examples 
cited embrace the mode of distinguishing the person, number, 
relation, and gender — or what is deemed its technical equivalent, 
i. e., the mutations words undergo, not to mark the distinctions 
of sex, but the presence or absence of vitality ; and also the 
inflections which the pronouns take for tense, or rather, the 
auxiliary verbs, have, had, shall, will, may, etc. This class 
embraces the preformative or prefixed pronouns. 

The inseparable suffixed or subformative pronouns are.: 
yaun, my ; ' yun, thy ; id or d, his or hers ; yaung, our (ex.) j 
yung, our (in.) ; yaig, your ; waud, their. These pronouns are 
exclusively employed as suffixes ; and as suffixes to the de- 
scriptive substantives, adjectives, and verbs. Relative pronouns 
are very limited. Demonstrative pronouns, both animate and 
inanimate, are found in many forms 

The Algonquin language is in a peculiar sense a language of 
pronouns. Originally there appear to have been but three 
terms, answering to the three persons, I, thou, or you, and he 
or she. By these terms, the speaker or actor is clearly distin- 



348 



HUDSON RIVER INDUNS. 



guished ; but they convey no idea of sex, the word for the 
third person in which we should suspect it, being strictly epi- 
cene. In a class of languages strongly transitive, the purposes 
of precision required another class of pronouns, which should 
be suffixed to the end of verbs, to render the object of the ac- 
tion as certain as the actor is. The language being without 
auxiliary verbs, their place is supplied by the tensal syllables, 
ge, gab, and guh, which have extended the original monysylla- 
bles into trisyllables. This is the first step on the polysyllabical 
ladder. To make the suffixed or objective pronouns, they ap- 
pear to have availed themselves of a principle which they had 
already applied to nouns — namely, the principle of indicating, 
by the letters g or n added to the plural terms, the two great 
divisions of creation, on which the whole grammatical structure 
is built — namely, the genderic classes of living or inert matter. 
As these alphabetical signs, g and n, could be applied to the 
five terminal vowel sounds of all nouns and all verbs (for they 
must, to be made plural or conjugated, be provided with terminal 
vowels, where they do not, when used disjunctively, exist), 
there is naturally a set of five vital or animate and five non- 
vital or inanimate plurals. Ten classes of nouns and ten 
classes of verbs are thus formed. But as the long vowels in 
au and oan require three more varieties of numerical inflection 
in each of these vowels, the respective number of plural terms 
is eight, and the total sixteen — sixteen modes of making the 
plural, and sixteen conjugations for the verb. This is pro- 
ductive of a variety of terminal sounds, and appears at the first 
glance to be confused, but the principle is simple and easily 
remembered ; so easily, that a child need never mistake it. 
The terminal g or n of each word denotes in all positions, the 
two great genderic classes of nature, which are the cardinal 
points of the grammar. 

Agreeably to data furnished, the regular plurals are respec- 
tively ag, eg, ig, og, ug, and ain, een, in, on, un, with the addi- 
tional aug, eeg, and oag, in the vital, and aun, een, and oan, for 
the long vowels, in the non-vital class. Only two ideas are 
gained by thirty-two numerical inflections, namely, that the ob- 
jects are vital or non-vital. 



APPENDIX. 



349 



The pure verbs, the noun-verbs, the adjective-verbs, and 
the propositional, adverbial, and compound terms and declen- 
sions, are made plural precisely as the nouns, regard being al- 
ways had to the principles of euphony, in throwing away or 
adding a letter, or giving precedence to an adjective inflection. 
The suffixed pronouns are required to be put at the end of 
these plurals, where they will not always coalesce without in- 
serting them before the sign of the epicene or anti-epicene. 

These suffixed plural inflections, as before indicated, areyaun, 
yun, id, or simply d — /, you, he, she ; which are changed to 
plurals personal by the usual inflections of the letter g, making 
them yaung, we, us, our (ex.) ; yung, we, us our (in.), and yaig 
for ye. The vital particle are, is placed before d for the pro- 
noun they. 

As the pronouns are made plural precisely as the nouns, for 
distinction's sake, the numerical inflections aig, aug, eeg, ig, og, 
oog, ug, may be employed to express the various senses of we, 
they, them, and us, ours, theirs. These fourteen suffixed 
pronouns enable the speaker to designate the objective transi- 
tive persons, and to designate the reflex action in the first plural, 
which is uniform. 

The anti-epicene suffixed pronouns for the same persons, 
are ain, een, in, on, aun, un, aim, eem, im, om, oam> um ; with 
such changes in their adjustment as usage and the juxtaposition 
of consonants have produced. 

5. Verbs. The whole stock of verbs in the Indian vocabulary 
is grouped with five epicene and five classes of anti-epicene 
conjugations. The conjugations embrace not only the natural 
verbs in common use, but they provide for all the nouns and 
noun-adjectives of every possible kind ; for these, it must be 
remembered, can all be converted, under the plastic rules of 
the language, into verbs. 

With a formidable display of vocal terms and inflective forms, 
there is, therefore, a very simple principle to unravel the lexico- 
graphy, namely, fidelity to the meaning of primary and vowelic 
sounds. If we compare this principle to a thread, parts of 
which are white, black, gree'n, blue and yellow, the white may 
stand as the symbol of five vowelic classes of words in a, the 



350 



HUDSON RIPER INDIANS. 



black in b ; the green in c; the blue in d; and the yellow 
in e. It creates no confusion to the eye to add, that there is 
a filament of red running through the whole series of colored 
strands, whereby five additional distinctions are made, making 
ten in all. These represent the two great classes of sounds of 
the Algonquin grammar, denoting what has been called the 
epicene and anti-epicene scheme. 

If we would know to what class of conjugations a word 
belongs, we must inquire how the plural is made. It will be 
borne in mind that all verbs, like all substantives, either termi- 
nate in a vowel sound, or, where they do not, that a vowel 
sound must be added in making the plural, in order that it may 
serve as a coalescent for the epicene g or the anti-epicene ». 
Thus man, inine, is rendered men, ininewug, not by adding the 
simple epicene plural ug, but by throwing a w before it, making 
the plural in wug. So paup, to laugh, is rendered plural in wag, 
and not ug ; whilst minnis, an island, sebens, a brook, and all 
words ending in a consonant, take the regular anti-epicene 
plural in un. The rule that in syllabication a vowel should 
follow a consonant is indeed universal. 

The arrangement of the vowelic classes is so important to 
any correct view of the grammar of the language, and is, at the 
same time, so regular, euphonious, and philosophical, that it 
will impress it the better on the mind, by presenting a tabular 
view of it. 

Corresponding Classes of Verbs. 



Epicene Substantives. 



1. Words ending in 

2. " " " 

3 . " " " 

. it tt tt 

4- 

i- tt tt tt 

1. Words ending in 



Anti-epicene Substantives. 



Plural Inflections. 

• *g 
eg 

• ig 
og 

• Kg 

. an 



APPENDIX. 



351 



Epicene Verbs. 

Class of Conjugations. 

1. Verbs ending in . . a or ag . . .in class a 

2. " " . . e or eg . , e 

3. " «* « . i'ori'g ... " i 

4. " " . . 6 or og . " o 

5. " « « . . iiorug . . . " u 

Anti-Epicene Verbs. 

1. Verbs ending in . . a or an . . .in class a 

2. " " " . . e oren . . . " e 

3. " " u . . i' or in . . i 

4. " " . . 6 or on . . . . " o 

5. " " " . . u or iin . . . " u 

6. Radices. The Algonquin language is founded on roots 
or primary elements having a meaning by themselves. As 
waub) to see ; paup^ to laugh ; wa, to move in space ; bwa y 
a voice. The theory of its orthography is to employ these 
primary sounds in combination, and not as disjunctive elements, 
which has originated a plan of thought and concords quite pe- 
culiar. It is evident that such particles as ak, be, ge, were in- 
vested with generic meanings before they assumed their 
concrete forms of ak-e, earth \ ne-be, water ; ge-zis, sky. 
Without attention to this theory of radices, and to the word- 
building principle of the language, — to this constant capacity 
of incremental extension, and to the mode of doubling, triplicat- 
ing, and quadruplicating ideas, it is impossible- to analyze it — 
to trace its compounds to their embryotic roots, and to seize 
upon those principles of thought and utterance, by attention to 
which, there has been created in the forests of America, one 
of the most polysyllabic and completely transpositive modes of 
communicating thought that exists. 

Humboldt applies the term " agglutinated" in defining the 
structure of the language. If by agglutination be meant accre- 
tion, and the adhesive principle be its syntax, the term is 
certainly appropriate. Whatever is agglutinated in the material 
world requires gluten to attach piece to piece, and its analogy 
in the intellectual process of sticking syllable to syllable, and 
word to word, is the accretive principle ; and this syllabical 



352 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



gluten is precisely that to which the closest attention is required 
to trace its syntax. 

7. Word- Building. The accretive system upon which the 
language is based is most clearly illustrated by analysis. Waub 
is, apparently, the radix of the verb, to see, and of the word, 
light. Waubun is the east, or sunlight, and, inferentially, place 
of light. Aub is the name of the eye-ball, hence ai-aub, to eye, 
or to see with the eye-ball. Ozh appears to be the root of 
every species of contrivance designed to float on water. 
Wa-mit-ig-ozh, the people of the wooden-made vessel — this 
is the Algonquin term for a Frenchman. Ozh, vessel ; mitig, 
trees or timbers, and wa, a. plural phrase indicative of persons. 
It is said the Indian must have had a term for grape, be- 
fore he made the compound term for wine, since the meaning 
of the latter is grape-liquor. Aubo in the Algonquin, means a 
liquid or liquor. Shomin, is a grape — but this is itself a dual 
compound. Min, in the same language, means a berry. The 
primordial root of the word is Sbo. Hence the terms : 



A Radix . 
A Radix, 
Undecided, 
A compound of 
four syllables. 



Sbo . . 

Min. 

Aubo 

Shominaubo. 



. A grape. 

A berry. 
. A liquor. 

Wine, that is grape- 
berry liquor. 



The word Mishimin means an apple. It is compounded 
from Mish, the primordial root, and Min, a berry, with the 
short sound of t thrown in for euphony. The principle of 
euphony requires a vowel to be interposed where two short 
words meet, which would bring two consonants (as in this case) 
together, and a consonant in expressions which would bring 
two vowels together. The enlargement of the word into the 
class of trisyllables, in all these cases, brings only sound into the 
new compound, without any enlargement of the sense. By 
joining the word aubo to this dualistic term, we have the Indian 
name for cider. 

Radix, Misb . . . Apple. 

Connective, / 



APPENDIX. 



353 



Radix, Min . . . Berry. 

Undecided, .... Aubo . . Liquor. 
Compound of four syllables. Mishiminaubo. Apple-berry liquor. 

The term for rum is ishkoda wabo. Ishkoda is itself a com- 
pound word, koda signifies a plain or valley, and ish, fire, and 
is employed perhaps to denote quality and prostration ; w is a 
coalescent and aubo, liquor — five syllables, fire-liquor. The 
word for mechanical, and all classes of implements, is Jegun. 
To break up (any inanimate substance), is Pegoobidon. Land 
or earth is Akki ; Akkum, surface of the earth. Hence, Pegoo- 
kumibeejegun, a plough or breaking-up-land instrument. Wassa- 
au is light ; Biskoona, flame. Hence, W as-ko-nen-j egun, 3. 
candle or light flame instrument. 

Not only verbs and substantives are thus compounded ana* 
lengthened out in their syllabical structure, but adjectives ad- 
mit of similar forms. Thus from the adjective radix misk, there 
is formed a variety of dual and trial compounds, which are in 
daily vocal use. 

Misquee, Blood. From misk, red, and nebee, water. 

Misqueewon, Bloody. " " won, a substance. 

Misqueengua, A blush. " " equa, a female. 

Misquawauk, Red cedar. " " auk, a tree. 

From the word Minno, good, is derived. 

Minnomonedo, . . A good God^ or an heavenly spirit. 
Minnoinnini, . . A good man. 
Minnoequa, . . .A good woman. 

From the word Mudjee, or Matchee, as it is usually written, 
is formed : 

Matcheemonedo, . . . .A bad spirit of demon of evil. 
Matcbeinnini, ... A bad man. 

One of the most striking sources of Indian compounds is that 
derived from men's and women's names. The open firmament 
of heaven is the field from which these names are generally 
derived. They are, consequently, sublime or grandiloquent in 
phraseology ; sometimes poetic, always highly figurative, "and 



354 



HUDSON R1FER INDIANS. 



often bombastic or ridiculous. The following examples of the 
personal names of each sex will denote this : 



Au be tub gee zbig, 
Bairn zva zva, 
Cbeeng gaus sin, 
Esb ta nak zvod, . 
Mo kau ge zbig, 
Ning au be un, . 
O zbau wus co ge zbig, 
Pa bau ge me zvong, . 
Sa sa gun, 
Waub un nung, . 



Centre of the sky. 

The passing thunder. 

The noise of wind. 

Clear sky or cloudless sky. 

The sun bursting from a cloud. 

The westerly wind. 

The blue sky. 

The showers. 

Hail. 

The morning star. 



Males have two and sometimes three names, but generally 
two, one of which may be called his baptismal name, and the 
other that which he has acquired from some incident or cir- 
cumstance. The former is studiously concealed, and never 
revealed by the Indian bearing it ; the latter is the familiar cog- 
nomen. It is characteristic of female names, that they denote 
the gender in their terminal syllable qua. The following will 
sufficiently illustrate the manner in which they are compounded: 



Au zhe bik o qua, 

Bairn wa zva ge zbig a qua, . 

Cbeeng gosh kum o qua, 

Ke neance e qua, .... 
Mau je ge zbik o qua, 
O gin e bug o qua, .... 
O bub bau mwa wa ge zbig o qua. 



Woman of the rock. 
Woman of the thunder-cloud. 
Woman of the sounding foot- 
steps. 

Little rose-bud woman. 
Woman of the zenith. 
Woman of the rose. 
Woman of the murmuring of 
the skies. 



The formation of geographical names is no exception to the 
rule. Wombi^ in the Natick, or Massachusetts dialect, — which 
the Wappingers are presumed to have spoken, — means white ; 
ic. or iij is a termination for azbebik, a rock or solid formation 
of rocks. Hence Wombic, the Indian name for the White 
mountains of New Hampshire. In the Algonquin, monaud 
signifies bad ; nok and nac, in the same language, is a term indi- 
cative of rock or precipice. Hence Monadnock, a detached 



APPENDIX. 



355 



mountain of New Hampshire, whose characteristic is thus 
denoted to consist in the difficulty or badness of its ascent. 
The Delawares denominate their river Lenapehituk. Of this 
term Lenape is their own proper name, ituk is a local phrase. 
The Mahicans gave to their river a name similarly constituted 
in Mahicanituk. The particle na in the Chippewa, indicates, 
in compounds, " fairness, abundance, excellence, something 
surpassing."- Amik, is a term for a beaver, and ong denotes 
place. Thus Namikong, the name for a noted point on Lake 
Superior, means a surpassing place for beavers. The name 
Housatonick is a trinary, which appears to be composed of wassa, 
bright, atun, a channel or stream, and ick from azhebic, rocks ; 
i. e., " Bright stream flowing through rocks." While it is 
perhaps impossible to translate many of the local,and geographi- 
cal names which are found in the valley of the Hudson, from 
the fact that the language was a mixture of Algonquin, .Man- 
hattan, Wappenackie, Mahican, Minsi and Iroquois, their form- 
ation was in accordance with the concrete principle, and in 
many cases the root terms are easily detected. 

Connected with this branch of his subject, the author intro- 
duces a plan of a system of geographical names, founded 
on the aboriginal languages, which gives to the investigation a 
practical form, and, if adopted, would enrich our own language 
as well as preserve the original. He says : 

cc It is found that many aboriginal terms which are graphically 
descriptive in the native dialects, fail in the necessary euphony 
and shortness necessary to their popular adoption. The princi- 
ples of the polysynthetic languages embrace the rule of concen- 
trating, in their compounds, the full meaning of a word upon a 
single syllable, and sometimes a single letter. Thus in Alon- 
quin, the particle be denotes water ; wa, inanimate motion ; ga, 
personal action ; ac, a tree ; hie, a rock or metal. The sylla- 
ble ft", in Iroquois, constantly means water ; tar, a rock ; on, a 
hill ; nec, a tree. In the Natick or Massachusetts dialect, as 
given by Mr. Eliot, the negative form of elementary words is 
matta; the local inflection ett ; the adjective great, missi ; 
black, mooi ; white, wompi. 



356 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



" The Indian languages also contain generic syllables or 
particles in the shape of inflections to nouns and verbs \ in the 
Algonquin, abo, a liquid ; jegun, or simply gun, an instrument ; 
jewun, a current ; ivunzh, a plant ; ong or onk, a place, &c. 

" By' these concentrations, descriptive words become replete 
with meanings ; but it requires a very nice collocation and ad- 
justment of syllables to attain the requisite degree of euphony, 
for the adoption of such compounds by foreign ears. Generally, 
words of three syllables recommend themselves to the English 
ear for quantity, in geographical names adopted from an Indian 
language, as heard in Oswego, Chicago, Ohio, Monadnock, 
and Toronto. In the terms suggested in the following lists of 
words, intended to be introduced into our geographical nomen- 
clature, the principles of elision and concentration referred to, 
have been applied. The root-forms carry the entire significa- 
tion to which they are entitled, in the elementary vocabulary, 
after they have been divested, by analysis, of their adjuncts. 
Thus, in the Algonquin, the syllable ac stands for land, earth, 
ground, soil ; be, for water, liquid ; bic, for rock, stone, metal, 
hard mineral ; co for object j ke for country, precinct, or terri- 
tory ; os for pebble, loose stone, detritus ; min, good ; ia, the 
term for a beautiful scene ; na, a particle, which, in compound 
words, denotes excellence ; oma, a large body of water \ non, 
a place ; gan, 2. lake ; coda, a plain or valley ; oda, a town, 
village, or cluster of houses, &c. 

" By adding the primary syllable of a word, as conveying the 
entire signification of the word, and employing it as a nominative 
to other syllables, which are also made use of in their concen- 
trated forms, a class of words is formed, which are generally 
shorter than their parent forms, more replete in their meanings, 
and securing, at the same time, a more uniformly euphonious 
pronounciation. Quantity and accent being thus at command 
by these elisions and transpositions, the number of syllables of 
which a new class of words shall consist, is a question to be 
predetermined. Expletive consonants, harsh gutturals, and 
double inflections, the pests of Indian lexography, are dropped, 
and the selections made from syllables which abound in liquid 
and vowel sounds. For it should be the object to preserve, as 



APPENDIX. 



357 



new elements in this peculiar branch of American literature, 
not the harsh and barbarous, but the soft and sonorous sounds. 

I. Terms from the Algonquin. " As a basis for these terms, 
we take, from the vocabulary of analyzed words, the primary 
terms ad, ab, os, wud, pat, mo, at, seeb, gon, pew, chig, naig, ag, 
mon, tig, cos, pen, mig, won-, meaning respectively deer, home, 
pebble, mountain, hill, spring, channel or current, river, clay- 
land, iron, shore, sand, water's edge, corn, tree, grass, bird, ea- 
gle, rose-bud. Subjecting these nominatives to the adjective 
expression ia, signifying beautiful, fair, admirable, and placing 
the particle nac, land, earth, soil, in the objective, and changing 
the latter for gan a lake ; bee, water ; min, good ; na, excellent ; 
ma, large water ; ock, forest ; we have the following trisyllabic 
terms : 



Deer 


Ad 


Ad ia nac 


Home, . 


. . Ab. . 


Ab ia nac. 


Pebble, . . 


. . Os . . 


. Os ia nac. 


Mountain, 


. . Wud . . 


Wud ia nac. 


Hill, . . . 


. . Pat . . 


. Pat ia nac. 


Spring, . 


. . Mo . . 


Mo ia nac. 


Current, 


. . At . . 


. At ia nac. 


River, 


Seeb . 


Seeb ia nac. 


Clay-land, . 


. Gon . 


. Gon ia nac. 


Iron, 


Pew . 


Pew ia nac. 


Shore, . 


. . Chig . . 


. Chig ia nac. 


Sand, 


Naig 


Naig ia nac. 




• • Ag . . 




Corn, 


Mon 


Mon ia nac. 


Tree, . 


. . Tig . . 


. Tig ia nac. 


Grass, 


. . Cos . . 


Cos ia nac. 


Bird, . . . 


. Pen . 


. Pen ia nac. 


Eagle, . . 


Mig 


Mig ia nac. 


Rose-bud, . 


. . Won . . 


. Won ia nac. 



" By reversing the action of the verb, or noun nominative, 
a new set of phrases is created, by which the meaning is changed 
from deer-land, home-land, &c, to land of deer, land of home, 
&c. The number of the objective syllables is as various as 
the objects in nature. The whole class of animals, birds, rep- 



358 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



tiles, insects, fishes ; the wide-spread phenomena of the 
heavens, of the forests and of the waters, supply words which 
are susceptible of being employed in the construction of new 
terms. Not'only can the objective be exchanged for the nomi- 
native, but the qualifying word admits of many euphonious ex- 
changes, and it may itself be employed as an objective, and the 
nominative itself thrown in the body of the terms as a qualify- 
ing syllable ; producing a set of words like those heard in Peoria 
and Kaskaskia, where the terminal syllable, ia, denotes fair or 
beautiful. In these terms the syllable w, denoting pebble or 



drift, is the adjunct noun. 

Adbsia . . . Fair deer land, . . From Adic. 
Ab'csia, . . Fair home land, . . " Abia. 
Patosia, . . Fair hill, " Ishpatina. 

" If the terminal ome or oma, as it is heard in Gitchig-oma, 
be employed, we have a set of terms denoting water prospects. 

Min-'o-ma, Good water. 

Mos-o-ma, Mopse water. 

Mon-'o-ma, Spirit water. 

Mok-o-ma, Spring water. 

Ac-o-ma, Rock water. 



" The particle na as heard in Namikong, denotes excellent, 
abundant, surpassing. By taking this for the objective syllable, 
and retaining the same nominative, and the same qualifying 
syllable made use of above, the resulting terms are as follows : 



Min-id-na, .... Good, fair and excellent. 
Ack-id-na, .... tl " land. 

Tig-id-na, .... " " trees. 

Mon-id-na, .... " " spirits. 



2. Terms from the Iroquois. The syllables co, a cascade ; //, 
water ; tar, rock ; on, hill ; asio, a defile, are selected as ex- 
hibiting the transpositive capacities of this language. 

" Termination in atea, a valley or landscape. 

Co-at-at-ea, . . . Valley below falls. 
Ti-at-at-ea . . . Well watered valley. 



APPENDIX. 



359 



Tar-at-at-ea, 
On-at-at-ea, . 
As-to-at-ea, 



. Rocks of the valley. 

Hills of the valley. 
. Narrow pass of a river in the valley. 



"Terminations in oga, a place, change these terms to 
" place of water and rocks," " place of hills and rocks," 
" place of the watery vale," etc. Terminations in io y beautiful : 
Co-i-o, beautiful fails ; Te-i-o, beautiful waters ; On-ti-o, 
beautiful hills ; Tar-i-o, beautiful rocks ; Os-i-o, beautiful 
view." 

Examples of transpositions and elisions are abundantly fur- 
nished, but sufficient have been quoted to illustrate the principle 
and direct attention to the subject. Instead of Smith's corners, 
Johnson's mills, and a class of local terms without significance, 
might be introduced Na-pee-na, abounding in birds ; Al-gan-see, 
water of the plains ; I-6s-co, water of light ; I-e-nia, wanderer's 
rest; Was-sa-han-na, bright river; Sho-min-ac, grape-land; 
Mon-a-kee, spirit land ; Tal-lu-la, leaping waters ; Os-se-go, 
beautiful view ; Bis-co-da, beautiful plain, terms of appropriate and 
permanent import. For private residences or country seats, no 
class of terms could be applied more expressive or more Ame- 
rican. The titles of the old world certainly need not be copied 
when those that are fresh and fragrant await adoption. 



Dialectic vocabularies, while not without their value for 
comparative purposes and for supplying primitive terms, afford 
but little aid in other respects. As a general rule, those which 
have been preserved are composed of words spoken in different 
localities and at different periods, and frequently mislead the 
inquirer. Those having occasion to do so, will consult them in 
their most complete form in Schoolcraft $ History, and in Galla- 
tin's Synopsis. The table annexed is introduced as simply 
illustrative. 



Dialectic Vocabularies. 



5 



:3 * 



•5 o j M-a 

<« -5 3 c o 

>, .tj m o e 

o J2 o s 

a t x o" 

O JJ 3 PS O 

o ^ o o o 



s 
s 

. 3 

si 



11 8: 

S .2 c 




3~-« £ C 

fJl-a .a a 1 j 

* E 6 . E U S 3 



5 E 

« ° 

a * 



's 2 o e*g 



S « o 

ir 5 ^ g •a 
I s 1 8.1 




* I '• : • So « * "! 

2 s « « S, « « "S J 

» g e w S "S | S 'g 'l 



E 




^ E 5 E 



S3 



s--s g. 



g-3 



2< rt 2 



2 * 
EE 



si 



• EE 



I j j.gx i I I ! ; i I I i i i * \ \ \ \ « II 
i jj! la'Ifl" § f I li I ef 111 i | ffrf 



APPENDIX. 



361 



III. Geographical Nomenclature and Traditions. 

N addition to the geographical terms which have 
been given in the body of this work, there are 
many to which reference may very properly be 
made, as well as traditions " which take the form 
of history," from their very general acceptance as such. It is 
to be regretted that the orthography of most of the Indian geo- 
graphical terms is so badly rendered in the official records as to 
make interpretation almost impossible, even where the dialect 
has been preserved, and especially is it to be regretted that the 
dialects themselves have not been preserved with more of their 
original character. As an almost universal rule, however, the 
statement may be accepted as a fact that the Indians had little 
of poetry in their composition, and that, while many of their 
terms can be made poetical, they were originally of the plainest 
and simplest descriptive equivalents. A black hill or a red hill, 
a large hill or a small one, a small stream of water or a larger 
one, or one which was muddy or stony, a field of maize, or of 
leeks, overhanging rocks or dashing waterfalls (patternack), — 
almost invariably denoting some physical peculiarity, or some 
product of the soil. Their commemorative terms were few. 

Manhattan has already been explained as signifying island, 
or, in its plural form, islands; as applied to the people, " the 
people of the islands." The extreme point of land between 
the junction of East and North rivers, of which the battery is 
now a part, was called Kapsee, and is still known to many per- 
sons as the Copsie point. The term appears to have denoted 
a " safe place of landing," formed by eddy waters. Sappokani- 
kan, a point of land on the Hudson below Greenwich avenue, 
is supposed to indicate, " the carrying place," from sipon, river, 
and ounigan, a portage. The Indians carried their canoes either 
over the point or across the island to East river, at this place, to 
save the trouble of paddling down to the foot of the island and 
then up the East river. (O' Calldghan). Corlear's hook was 
called Naghtognk, according to Benson. The name is also given 




362 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



as Rechtauck ; from reckwa, sand. A tract of meadow land on 
the north end of the island, near Kingsbridge, was called Mus- 
coota, that is " meadow or grass land." (Benson.) Warpoes 
was a term bestowed on a piece of elevated ground, situated 
above and beyond the small lake or pond called the kolck ; the 
latter occupying several acres in the neighborhood of the present 
halls of justice in Centre street. Many of the streets of the 
city are laid out upon the old Indian paths. This is true of 
Broadway from the battery to the Park, where the Indian paths 
forked, one running east to Chatham square, and the other 
west to Tivoli garden, etc. This would lead to Warpoes by 
paths on the east and west side of the kolck. At or beyond 
Warpoes the paths again forked, one leading to Sappokanikan on 
the Hudson, and the other to Naghtognk or Corlear's hook. The 
island was not a place of permanent abode of the Indians, but 
was only occupied during certain seasons. It was sold to 
Minuet, the first director-general of the Holland government, 
in 1624, and was then estimated to contain about twenty-two 
thousand acres. The price paid to the Indians was sixty guild- 
ers, or about twenty-four dollars. 

Staten island bears different names in different deeds. In 
the deed to Michael Pauw, in 1 631, it is called Matawucks, 
and in that to Capellen, in 1655, Egbquaous. DeVries says 
that it was called Monocknong, and that the clan occupying it 
were Monatons. The deed to Capellen states that it was jointly 
owned by the Raritans and the Hackinsacks. Governor's 
island was called by the Indians, Pagganck ; Bedloe's island, 
Minnisais ; Ellis' island, Kiosbk; and Blackwell's island, Minna- 
hanock, the latter signifying " at the island," or " the island 
home." " The word is a compound of Menahan, an island, 
and uck, locality." (O' Callaghan). 

On the point of land now occupied by Fort Schuyler is lo- 
cated a tradition which Judge Benson relates in his Memoirs 
of New York. Directly opposite the fort are the famous step- 
ping stones, 1 consisting of a number of rocks which project 

1 On a map descriptive of the battle on the Hudson. — Documentary History, 
near Lake George, in 1755, Stepping iv, 259. 
Stones is also applied to the palisades 



APPENDIX. 



363 



in a line from the Long Island shore, and show their bare tops 
at low water. " An Indian origin," says Benson, " is asserted 
for this name, and a tradition vouched as authority." It is said, 
that at a certain time the evil spirit set up a claim against the 
Indians, to Connecticut, as his peculiar domain ; but they being 
in possession, determined, of course, to try to hold it. The 
surface of Connecticut and Long Island were then the reverse 
of what they are now. The latter was covered with rocks ; 
Connecticut was free from them. The Indians first tried to 
negotiate with his majesty ; offering to retire from the land, 
provided they were permitted to girdle the trees and remove 
their property. No answer was made to the proposition, and 
both parties appealed to arms. The arch-leader took the field 
alone ; and being an overmatch for the Indians in skill and 
spirit, he at first advanced on them ; but, they having provided 
there should be constant reinforcements on their march, thereby 
preserving their corps entire, and harassing him incessantly, 
giving him no rest night nor day, he was obliged finally to yield 
to vigilance and perseverance, and fall back. He retired col- 
lected, and, as usual, gave up the ground only inch by inch ; 
and though retiring, still presenting a front whenever attack 
threatened. He kept close to the sound to secure his flank 
from attack on that side ; and having reached the point, and the 
water becoming narrow, and the tide running out, and the rocks 
showing their heads, he availed himself of them, and stepping 
from one to the other effected his retreat to Long Island. He 
at first betook himself, silent and sullen, to Coram, in the middle 
of the island ; but it being in his nature not to remain idle long, 
and rage being superadded, soon roused him and ministered to 
him the means of revenge. He collected all the rocks in the 
island in heaps at Cold Spring, and throwing them in different 
directions, to different distances across the sound in Connecticut, 
covered the surface of it with them as we now see it." 

This tradition was given to the first settlers at Cold Spring, 
and the last Indians who remained there not only undertook to 
show the spot where his majesty stood, but insisted that they 
could still discern the prints of his feet. A projecting point of 
land on the neck is still called Satan's Toe. 



364 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



Among the natural curiosities of Long Island is Ronconcoa 
lake, lying upon the boundary line which divides the four towns 
of Smithtown, Setauket, Islip, and Patchogue. This lake is of 
great depth and for a long time was supposed to be unfathomable. 
It has an ebb and flow in its waters at different periods ; and was 
early made the theme of Indian story and tradition. They re- 
garded it with a species of superstitious veneration, and although 
it abounded in a variety of fish, they, at the early settlement, 
refused to eat them, believing they were superior beings and 
placed there by the Great Spirit. 

About thirty miles from Brooklyn and midway between the 
north and south sides of the island, is a hill known as Marietta, 
a corruption of the original name, which was Manitou, or the 
hill of the Great Spirit. The tradition is, that many ages since, 
the aborigines residing in those parts suffered extremely from 
the want of water. Under their suffering they offered up 
prayers to the Great Spirit for relief. That in reply to their 
supplications, the Great Spirit directed their chieftain should 
shoot his arrow in the air, and on the spot where it fell they 
should dig, and would assuredly discover the element they so 
much desired. They pursued the direction, dug, and found 
water. There is now a well situated on this rising ground ; and 
the tradition continues to say, that this well is on the very spot 
indicated by the Good Spirit. The probabilities are that the 
hill takes its name from the fact that it was used as the place of 
general offering to the Great Spirit. 

Canoe Place, on the south side of the island, near Southampton, 
derives its name from the fact, that more than two centuries ago 
a canal was made there by the Indians, for the purpose of pass- 
ing their canoes from one bay to the other, that is across the 
island from Mecox bay to Peconic bay. Although the trench 
has been in a great measure filled up, yet its remains are still 
visible, and partly flowed at high water. It was constructed by 
Mongotucksee, or Long Knife, who then reigned over the nation 
of Mont 'auk — a chief of gigantic form, proud and despotic in 
peace, and terrible in war. But although a tyrant of his people, 
he protected them from their enemies, and commanded their 
respect for his savage virtues. He sustained his power not less 



APPENDIX. 365 

/ 

by the resources of his mind than by the vigor of his arm. An 
ever watchful policy guided his councils. Prepared for every 
exigency, not even aboriginal sagacity could surprise his canton. 
To facilitate communication around the seat of his dominion — 
for the purpose not only of defense but of annoyance — he 
constructed this canal, which remains a monument of his genius. 
The praises of Mongotucksee are still chanted in aboriginal verse 
to the winds that howl around the eastern extremity of the 
island. 

Long Island, as already stated, was called Sewanhackey. 
Among the localities, Occopoque (Riverhead), takes its name 
from accup, a creek. The Indian village of Accopogue was situ- 
ated on the creek which enters Little Peconic bay on the north 
side. Nepeage was the name of the peninsula which unites 
Montauk to the western part of East Hampton, and is supposed 
to mean " water land," from nepe, water, and eage, earth or land. 
(O'Callaghan.) Montauk, the name for the east end of the 
island, is from mintuck, a tree, in the Narragansett dialect. 
The place abounded with trees, according to Thompson. 
(Ibid?) Namke, from namaas, fish and ke, place was the name of 
the creek near Riverhead. {Ibid.) Mereyckawick (Brooklyn), 
is from me, the article in the Algonquin ; reckwa, sand, and ick, 
locality, "the sandy place." The name was probably applied, at 
first, to the bottom land or beach. Wallabout bay was called 
" the boght of Mareckawick." (Ibid.) Huppogues, in Smithtown, 
is an abbreviation of sumhuppaog, the Narragansett word for 
beavers. (Rhode Island Historical Collections, I, 95.) 

Bolton, in his History of Westchester County, has preserved 
many of the Indian names in that district. To the Spuyten 
Duyvel creek he assigns the term, Papirinimen. O'Callaghan 
gives the same name to a tract " on the north end of the island 
of Manhattans," about 228th street, between Spuyten Duyvel 
creek on the west and Harlem river on the east. Saw mill 
creek was called Neperah, from nepe, water, and gave its name 
to the Indian village of Nappeckamak, which stood on the site 
of the present village of Yonkers, literally "the rapid water 
settlement." In an obscure nook on the Hudson, west of the 
Neperah, is a large rock which was called Meghkeekassin, or 



366 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



AmackassinJ or " the great stone," to which it is said the Indians 
paid reverence as an evidence of the permanency and immuta- 
bility of their deity. 

No Indian name more frequently occurs in the history of the 
county than that of Weckquaesgeek, nor one the precise location 
of which there is more difficulty in determining. O'Callaghan 
says: "This tract is described as extending from the Hudson 
to the East river. The name is from wigwos, birch bark, and 
keag, country — " the country of the birch bark." Bolton gives 
the name to an Indian village which occupied the site of DobW 
ferry, which he denominates "the place of the bark kettle." In 
Albany Records, 111,379, is this entry: " Personally appeared 
Sauwenare, sachem of Wieckqueskeck, Amenameck his brother, 
and others, all owners, etc., of lands situated on North river 
called Wieckquaeskeck, and declared that they had sold the same 
to Wouter Van Twiller in 1645." In a deed to Frederick 
Phillipse, April 12, 1682, the bounds of the tract conveyed are 
given as, "southerly to a creek or fall called by the Indians 
Weghquegsike," and in another deed the tract is described as 
"a piece of land lying about Wighquaeskeek" and in still another 
the creek is called Weghqueghe. Bolton says the creek was 
called Wysquaqua. 

The Indian name for Tarrytown was Alipconck, " the place of 
elms." Sing-Sing takes its name from an Indian village called 
Ossing-sing, from ossin, a stone, and ing, a place, the " plgce of 
stones," or " stone upon stone." [Bolton.) In a deed to Philip 
Phillipse, 1685, it is said, "a creek called Kitchawan, called by 
the Indians Sinksink." Bolton, however, gives the name of 
Kitchawonck to the Croton river. The site of the present vil- 
lage of Peekskill was called Sackhoes and was occupied by an 
Indian village known by that name. Teller's point was called 
Senasqua. Tradition weaves the story that the forms of the 
ancient warriors still haunt the surrounding glens and woods of 
this district, and the Haunted Hollow, and the sachems of 
Teller's point, have become household words in the neighbor- 
hood. Another tradition tells us that a desperate conflict was 

1 In one of the Phillipse Deeds, it is described as " a great rock called by the 

Indians Sigghes." 



APPENDIX. 



367 



once held here by the Kttchawongs against their enemies, and that 
the mound near the entrance to Teller's point was erected over 
the dead who fell on that memorable occasion. 

Anthony's nose was called Kittatenny, a Delaware term signi- 
fying "endless hills." 1 Poconteco river, called also Pekanteco or 
Pereghanduck, is presumed to express in its name the dark river j 
from pohkunni, dark, inde. pecontecue, night. The stream may 
have been densely overshadowed by trees. (O' Callaghan.) 
Bolton says the name signifies "a run between two hills." The 
Dutch styled it " Sleepy Haven kil," hence the origin of the 
present term Sleepy Hollow applied to the valley. Sacrahung, 
or mill river, takes its name from sacra, rain. Its liability to 
freshets after heavy rains, may have given origin to the Indian 
name. [Ibid.) ®)uinnahung, a neck of land at the mouth and 
west side of the Bronck river, — from quinni, long, and unk, 
locality. [Ibid.) Aquehung, " the place of peace," — from aquene, 
peace, — was the name given to the place occupied by Jonas 
Bronck in commemoration of the peace which was there con- 
cluded with the Indians in 1643. [Ibid.) The Indian name 
for the Bronck tract, however, was Ranachque or Raraque. 
The tract commonly called by the English the " White Plains," 
was known to the Indians as ^uaroppas. Verplanck's point 
was called Meahagh, and the lands immediately east, Appamagh- 
pogh. Poningo, the name of the residence of one of the chiefs 
of the Siwanoys, embraces the tract of land now included in 
the towns of Rye and Harrison. Rye Neck was called Apaw- 
quammis. The town of Morisania was known as Ranachque or 
Raraque. The towns of New Castle and Bedford occupy a 
tract called Shappequa, a name now applied to the Shappequa 
hills, and destined to be remembered from its recent association 
with the name of Mr. Horace Greeley. The west neck 
adjoining New Rochelle was called Magopson. The Byram 
river was known by the name of Armonck, and the meadows 
bordering it Haseco and Miosehassaky. Harlem river was called 
Muscoota; Blind brook, Mockquams, and the high ridge east of 
it, Enketaupuenson ; Beaver dam or Stony Brook, Pockestersen, 
and Delancey's neck, Waumainuck. A tract called Rippowams 

1 The name is applied to the entire range both in New Jersey and New York. 



368 HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



fell to the share of the people of Stamford, Conn., in 1655. 
It extended eighteen miles north and south, and eight miles 
east and west. 

In the town of Carmel, in the county of Putnam, is located 
Lake Macookpack, now Mahopack, a term probably signifying 
simply a large inland lake, from ma large water and aki land. 
The same name was applied to what is now known as 
Copake lake in Columbia county. The lake is nine miles in cir- 
cumference, and is situated about eighteen hundred feet above 
the level of the sea. On one of the islands of the lake is what 
is called the Chieftain's rock, on which was held, according 
to tradition, the last council of the tribe. This council was for 
the purpose of considering the proposition of the English to 
buy their lands and remove the tribe to the far west. Canopus, 
the aged sachem of the tribe, urged his followers to reject the 
proposal ; to rally to the defense of their empire, and the graves 
of their fathers. His impassioned eloquence determined the 
council against the proposition. John W. Lee, Esq., of 
New York, has thrown this legend into the following verse : 

" Once the airy curtain lifted, and the shadows rolling back, 
Shadows of the years that hover o'er the lake of Mahopac — 
Showed me Indian warriors gathered in the wooded island dell, 
Which the rocks, all worn and moss-clad, and the waters guarded well. 

# * * * * * * * # * 

Then upon the ledge above them, rose an aged, yet stalwart form, 
Like some monarch of the forest, bending never to the storm, 
Rose the Chieftain of the Island, with that bearing of a king, 
Which the pride of birth may strive for, but the soul alone can bring. 

Turned his eagle gaze upon them, and with voice as clarion clear, 
Waked the dreamers, and the waiting, wearied maiden sleeping near : 
" Rouse, Mahicans ! sons of heroes ! keep your ancient honor bright ! 
I have seen you in the battle — ye were lions in the fight. 

" I have seen you in the council, when the watch-fire lit the glen, 
And the clouds of war hung o'er us — ye were all undaunted then ; 
When the faggots blazed around you, all defiant in your pain; 
I have heard you chant your death-song — chieftains, now be men again ! 



APPENDIX. 



369 



" Snake or traitor hissed that whisper : ' Sell your forests, there is rest 
On the banks of the Mississippi, on the prairies of the west.* 
Who the craven counsel uttered ? Let him in the fire-light stand ! 
Nay, he dares not. Crouching coward ! palsied be thy trembling hand ! 

" When the pale-face, rushing on thee, grasps thy hatchet and thy bow ! 
Hark, the Spirit ! ' Stand, Mahicans ; guard your forests, meet the foe ! ' 
By the memory of our empire ; by the mounds along the bank, 
Where our fathers hear the moaning of the river Kicktawanc ! 

" Brothers ! gird ye for the struggle ; breast to breast, and eye to eye, 
Let us swear the oath of glory — one to conquer, one to die! 
Sound once more your ancient war cry ! Sound it from the mountain's 
steep, 

Where the eagle hath her eyrie, and the rocks their vigils keep. 

" Twice ten thousand shouts shall answer from the river to the sea ! 
Dare, nor falter ! Fear is failure. Craven-hearted, will ye flee? 
Go ! yet on the darkening future, read the sentence of your doom, 
As, in letters of the lightning, traced upon a scroll of gloom ! 

" Go ! the western tribes shall meet you, ye will be an handful then, 
And shall perish in your weakness — perish from the minds of men ! 
Like yon rushing highland river, in its mountains wild and free, 
In the ocean lost forever. Thus shall be your destiny." 

The Highlands of the Hudson were not called Matteawan 
mountains, as stated by Moulton. The Indians had no names 
for mountain ranges, but designated different parts or peaks by 
different names. In the patent known as the Little Nine 
Partners, one of the more eastern peaks of the Highland range 
is called Weputing, from IVeepitung, literally tooth mountain, 
probably from its resemblance to a molar tooth. The nearest 
approach to a name for the range was that which the Indians 
sometimes applied to themselves — Wequehachke, or " the people 
of the hill country." 1 The Dutch used Hoogland or Hoge- 
land in speaking of the range, and, like the Indians, gave names 
to particular peaks, as Anthony's Nose, Dunderberg, Buttaberg, 
etc. 

1 Hogeland, or Hoogland, Dutch for them Wequthachke, the hill country. — 
Highlands, a name applied to the High- Memorials Moravian Church, i .6. 
lands of New York. The Indians called 



370 



HUDSON R1FER INDIANS. 



Matteawan was the Indian name for what is now called Fish- 
kill creek* but which the early settlers denominated the " Fresh 
kil or creek." The meaning of the word has been defined 
as "good furs," and Moulton has endeavored to associate 
it with the incantations of Indian priests, but on no positive 
authority. Matta, in the Massachusetts dialect, is the elemen- 
tary form of negative words, and generally used for no ; wa is 
inanimate motion. This interpretation applied to the creek, 
would be " no water " or " little water or motion." Another 
classification would be ma, large water ; tea, valley or land- 
scape ; wan, inanimate motion — literally " the large water in the 
valley," wan perhaps referring to that portion of the creek near 
its confluence with the Hudson. 

What is now known as Wappinger's creek, while appropri- 
ately preserving the name of its aboriginal owners, was not so 
called by them, but by the very beautiful name, Mawenawasigh. 
The precise meaning of the phrase cannot be given. Ma is 
the Algonquin for large water ; we is also water ; na is excel- 
lence, fairness, abundance, something surpassing ; wasigh is 
apparently a corrupt rendering of wassa, light or foamy water. 
A large stream of excellent water,, or a large waterfall, would 
seem to cover the original definition. Such names are beauti- 
ful without interpretation, and far more appropriate than many 
English geographical terms. Wappinger's Falls, the name of the 
village near the locality from which it takes its name, might well 
be changed to Mawenawasigh. 

Apoquague was the Indian name of what is now called Silver 
lake, in Fishkill. The name signifies " round pond." Wic- 
copee was the Indian name of the highest peak in the Fishkill 
mountains on the south border of East Fishkill, and also of the 
pass or gorge in the mountains through which the Indian trail 
formerly ran. An Indian castle is traditionally located here, 
and another at Shenandoah. It is said that at Fishkill hook 
remains of an Indian burial ground have been found, and also 
that apple trees planted by them were still bearing within the 
memory of the earlier inhabitants. 

An explanation of Wappingers may be proper in this connec- 
tion. Although passed irrevocably into history, the term is a 



APPENDIX. 



371 



corruption of wabun, east, and acki, land which, as applied by 
the Indians to themselves, may be rendered Eastlanders, or Men 
of the East. The French preserved the original very nearly in 
Abenaqu'e, and Heckewelder in Wapanachki (note, ante p. 45). 
The Dutch historians are responsible for Wappingers, perhaps 
from their rendering of the sound of the original word, and per- 
haps as expressing the fact that they were, in the Dutch lan- 
guage, wapen or half-armed Indians. 

Fourteen miles west of the Hudson and a few miles north of 
Poughkeepsie was J^uerapoquett, from whence the boundary of 
the Sackett tract ran north-east to a tree on the east side of 
the Wesiack subsequently known as Ten Mile river. Of the 
Indian name, O'Callaghan says : " Wissayck, rocky country," 
from qussuk, a rock, and ick, a locality." A more correct expla- 
nation is probably derived from wassa, light, and ick, locality — 
the light or bright waters. It was in this district that the 
Moravians found their fields of labor in the villages of Shecomeco, 
Wechquadnach and Pachgatgoch. The former name is preserved 
in that of the stream upon which the village stood, while the 
second is applied to the lake now called Indian pond. 

A tract of meadow land "lying slanting to the Dancing 
Chamber," north of Wappinger's creek, had for its eastern 
boundary a creek called Wynogkee. Schoolcraft defines Pough- 
keepsie as signifying safe harbor, from apokeepsing ; but the 
interpretation is open to question. In early documents the 
name is variously spelled. In a deed to Arnot Veil, 1680, 
covering the tract, the boundaries are described as " beginning 
at a creek called Pacaksing, by the river side ;" in a petition from 
Wm. Caldwell the orthography is Pogkeepke ; in an affidavit by 
Myndert Harmense, it is Pokeepsinck ; in other papers the pre- 
vailing orthography is Poghkeepke, and finally it is found applied 
to a pond of water, lying in the vicinity of the city, and its sig- 
nification given ; or muddy pond, an explanation which accords 
with the accepted interpretation of Ramepogh — a simple generic 
term for pond, or ponds, modified by locality or character. 
West of Poughkeepsie, and constituting the boundary of the 
Veil tract was Matapan fall or creek. In the geographical 
terms of this district ma, mata and matea, frequently occur. 



372 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Crum Elbow creek was called Equorsink, and the lands ad- 
joining, on the Hudson, Eaquaquanessink ; so given in a patent 
to Henry Beekman, the bounds of which ran from the Hudson 
" east by side of a fresh meadow called Mansakin and a small 
creek called Mancapawimick." In a patent to Peter Fal- 
conier and others the lands are called Eaquaquannessinck, 
the meadow Mansakin, the small creek Nancapaconick, and 
the Crum Elbow Eaquarysink. The boundary line of the 
" Great Nine Partners patent" began " at the creek called 
by the Indians Aquasing and by the Christians Fish creek." 
The Christians spoken of made free use of the word Fish, 
no less than three streams emptying into the Hudson being 
given that name. The signification of the Indian name, 
however, is not involved in the Dutch designations. In this 
case Aquasing apparently indicates stony, from qusuk. Roeloff 
Jansen's kil was the dividing line between the Mahicans and 
the Wappingers, a fact which has not only been already stated but 
which the reader will recognize in the change in dialect shown 
in the geographical terms. The creek was called Sankpenak. 
In the Livingston patent, of which it formed the southern 
boundary, the names of a number of localities are given, and, in 
some cases, their signification. In his first purchase were 
" three planes" or tracts of " flat lands" called Nekankook, 
Kickua, and Wicquaskaka, lying on the Hudson between " a 
small creek or kil" lying over against Katskill, called Wackan- 
kassack, and a place called by the Indians Swaskahamuka. His 
second, or Taghkanick tract, began at a place called Minis- 
sichtanock ; thence west along a small hill " to a creek" called 
^ulssicheook ; thence " to a high place" called Skaanpook, which, 
" a little lower down" is called Twastawekah ; then south along 
the foot of the high mountains " to the path that goes to 
Wawijchtanok, " to a hill called by the Indians Mananosick 
then west to " a creek" called Nachawawachkano, " which 
creek empties into the Twastawekah " the place "where the two 
creeks meet being called Mawichnanck" His third purchase 
began at a creek called Wachankasigh ; thence to a place called 
Wawanaquassick, "where the heaps of stones lye," near the 
head of a creek called Nanapenahekan, " which comes out of a 



APPENDIX. 



373 



marsh lying near unto the said hills of the said heaps of stones 
upon which the Indians throw another as they pass by, from 
an ancient custom among them j" then to the " northernmost 
end of the hills that are to the north of Tacahkanick, known 
by the name of Ahashewaghkick then " along the said hills to 
the southernmost end of the same, cailed Wichquapakkat" In 
the line of the boundaries " a rock or great stone" is called 
Acawaisik, and " a dry gully at Hudson's river," Sackahampa. 
Taghkanick, the name now applied to the entire range of hills 
forming the eastern boundary of the manor lands, was originally 
local, as appears not only from the names given to the north 
and south ends respectively, but from the fact that the Indians 
had no titles for entire mountain ranges. The name is pro- 
nounced Toh-kon-ick, and is said to have been given to a spring 
on the west side of the mountains in Copake. Copake lake 
was called Kookpake. (See Mabopac.) Scompamuck was the 
name of the locality now covered by the village of Ghent. 

W iwanaquassicky " where the heaps of stones lye has its 
plural in wa-wa ; na signifies good ; quas is stone or stones, and 
ick locality. The name is without commemorative character. 
Of the custom referred to in the quotation, the Rev. Gideon 
Hawley writes : " We came to a resting place, and breathed 
our horses, and slaked our thirst at the stream, when we per- 
ceived our Indian looking for a stone, which having found, he 
cast to a heap, which for ages had been accumulating by pas- 
sengers like him, who was our guide. We inquired why he 
observed that rite. He answered that his father practised it 
and enjoined it on him. But he did not like to talk on the sub- 
ject. I have observed in every part of the country, and among 
every tribe of Indians, and among those where I now am in 
a particular manner, such heaps of stones or sticks col- 
lected on the like occasion as the above. The largest heap 
I ever observed, is that large collection of small stones 
on the mountain between Stockbridge and Great Barring- 
ton. We have a Sacrifice rock, as it is termed, between 
Plymouth and Sandwich, to which stones and sticks are always 
cast by Indians who pass it. This custom or rite is an acknow- 
ledgment of an invisible being. We may style him the unknown 



374 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



God, whom this people worship. This heap is his altar. The 
stone that is collected is the oblation of the traveler, which, if 
offered with a good mind, may be as acceptable as a consecrated 
animal. But perhaps these heaps of stones may be erected to 
a local deity, which most probably is the case." 

There has always been manifested a disposition to invest the 
unexplained customs of the Indians with suppositions and super- 
stitions. Mr. Hawley's description is marred in this respect. 
The custom referred to had nothing of worship in it, nor was 
it in recognition of an " unknown God," or of a " local deity." 
The stone heaps were always by the side of a trail or regularly 
traveled path, and usually at or near a stream of water. The 
Indians paused to refresh themselves, and, by throwing a stone 
or a stick to a certain place, indicated to other travellers that a 
friend had passed. 

Twastawekak^ was the name of what is now known as 
Klaverack creek. Machackoesk was the name of a tract lying 
on both sides of Kinderhook creek j Pomponick that of another 
tract in the same vicinity, and Kenaghtequak that of a small 
creek. The New England path, one of the routes of travel 
between the Indians of the Hudson and those of the east, ran 
along a portion of the boundary line of the Kinderhook patent. 
Kinderhook is Dutch of course, but is said to have had its origin 
in the fact that the point was a favorite place for the children 
of the Indians to practice their games, and perhaps the only 
point at which they could be observed from vessels passing on 
the river, as the Dans-Kammer was the only point at which 
devil worship was similarly observed. There is a fragrance in 
the fact that makes the name more palatable than most of the 
Dutch geographical terms. 

Schodac^ to which tradition assigns the important position of 
the capital of the Mahicans at the time of the discovery, is now 
covered by the village of Castleton. The name is from skootag^ 
fire, and ack, place. 

Sannahagog is the name given for the tract of land extending 
on the east side of the river from Beeren island to Smack's 
island. Beeren island was called Passapenock and subsequently, 
Mahican island. It was occupied by the Mahicans until 



APPENDIX. 



375 



the war of 1689, when they were "persuaded to goe and live 
at Katskill," where they would be in greater readiness for the 
public service. Cacktanaquick is described as an island over 
against Beeren island. The island opposite Albany known as 
Smack's, was called " Schotack or Aepjen's island." Poetanock 
was the name for Mill creek, opposite Albany, and Semesseeck 
that for a tract through which it passed. Another tract adjoin- 
ing took its name from its owner, Paep-Sikenekomtas, abbreviated 
to Papsickenekas. Petuquapoen and Tuscumcatick are names 
applied to what is now Greenbush. Keeseyuuego was the name 
of a kil opposite Albany, described as being " 1200 rods from 
Major Abram Staets's kil." Paanpaack was the name of the 
tract now covered by the city of *Troy. Taescameasick and 
Sheepshack are now covered by Lansingburgh, and Popquassick, 
which is de&wlbed as "a piece of woodland on the east side of 
the river near a small island commonly known as whale fishing 
island," is also supposed to be a part of the town of Lansings 
burgh. Panhoosick was the name of a tract north of Troy, and 
is still preserved in that of one of the towns of Rensselaer 
county and in Hoosick river. A small stream flowing into the 
Hoosick from the south was called Tomhenack creek, and one 
from the north bore the name of Poquampacak. Further east 
the Wallomschock, after taking in several tributary mountain 
streams from Vermont, adds its waters in considerable volume. 
The Indian village of Schaticook which stood at the confluence 
of the Hoosick and Hudson, has already been referred to. 
Dionondahowa is given as the Indian name for the falls on the 
Batten kil below Galesville, Washington county, and Tioneen- 
dogahe to the kil itself. {Patent to Schuyler.) The same name 
was also applied to the- outlet of Lake George, now called 
Ticonderoga, by which it is known in its many historic associa- 
tions. It is a generic term and appears under different ortho- 
graphies and interpretations. " Tionderoga, meaning the place 
where two rivers meet. The French called it Carillon, on 
account of the noise of the waterfall at the outlet." (Brod- 
head.) " Tsinondrosie, or Cheonderoga^ signifying brawling 
water, and the French name, Carillon, signifying a chime of 
bells, were both suggested by the noise of the rapids." (Ga- 



376 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



zetteer.) " Dionderoga, c place of the inflowing waters ; ' Ticon- 
deroga, from ti, water ; on, hills ; dar, precipitous rocks, and 
oga, place." (Schoolcraft.) ghiequicke was the name of the falls 
on the Hoosick east of the bounds of Schaticook, now known 
as Hoosick Falls. In answer to the claim that the Hoosick 
takes its name from Abraham Hoosac, one of the early settlers, 
is the positive assertion, in one of the first patents, that a tract, 
" twenty-five English miles north-east of the city of Albany," 
was " known by the Indian name of Hoosack." The name is 
from hussun, stone, and ack, place — literally "stony country." 
A strata of round stones, such as are used for street pavements, 
apparently underlies the entire valley. 

On the west side of the Hudson and the harbor of New 
York are the Neversink hills. The name, according to School- 
craft, is from onawa, water, between the waters, and sink, a 
place ; but this interpretation appears to be forced. The word 
probably signifies a place abounding in birds. Hudson found 
the Indians there "clothed in mantles of feathers. Amboy, 
according to Heckewelder, is from emboli, and signifies a 
place resembling a bowl or bottle. Epating, in the rear 
of Jersey city, is from ishpa, high, and ink, a place — hence 
Ishpatink, or Espating, a high place, supposed to be Snake hill. 
(O' Callaghan.) Schoolcraft applies the same term to "the 
high sandy bank now known as Brooklyn Heights." Arissbeck 
was the name of Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. Hoboken- 
hacking was the name of the tract now embraced in the site of 
Hoboken, and is said to have meant tobacco pipe. The 
term was frequently used to express crookedness, and in this 
instance was applied to the form of the river shore. Raritan, 
a forked river ; Passaic, from Pakhsajek, a valley ; Gamoenapa, 
the aboriginal for Communipau ; the Raritan Great Meadows 
were called Man-kack-ke-wachky ; Wiehacken is still preserved 
in the name of Wehawken ; Hackinsack river perpetuates the 
name of the Hackinsacks and is the modern rendering of the 
original Ack-kin-kas-hacky. The name is said to mean, " the 
stream that unites with another in low level ground." Haque- 
quenunck, sometimes spelled Aquackanonk, was the name for the 
ract now covered by the city of Patterson, and Totama the 



APPENDIX. 



377 



name of the falls — a word signifying to sink, to be forced down 
under weight by water. Watchtung — literally mountain — was 
the name of a range of hills lying some twelve miles west of 
the Hudson ; Ramspook or Ramapo, a river into which empties 
a number of round ponds ; Pompton, " crooked mouth," refer- 
ring to the manner in which the Ringwood and Ramapo rivers 
pass down and discharge themselves into the Pompton. 

It is said that the Tappans derived their name from Tuphanne, 
a cold stream, signifying the people of the cold stream. Ku- 
mochenack was the name for Haverstraw bay. A small stream 
flowing into the Ramapo river was the Chesekook, a. name also 
applied " to a tract of upland and meadpw " embraced in and 
known as the " Chesekook patent," which covered a large por- 
tion of the original county of Orange, now Rockland. A small 
stream emptying into the Hudson just below Stony point, was 
called Minnisconga, from minnis an island, co or con, object, and 
ga a place, referring without doubt to Stony point itself which 
was then an island. The site of the present town of Orange- 
town was called the Narrasunck lands as late as 1769, a name 
which probably has its signification in na and unk, " good land." 
Verdrietig hook, or Tedious point, as the Dutch called it from 
the fact that it was generally so long in sight from their slow- 
sailing sloops, was called ^hiaspeck, from qusuk, a stone. 

Opposite Anthony's Nose, was a " small rivulet called by ye 
Indians Assinnapink" or " the stream from the solid rqcks." 
South of this rivulet was Tongapogh kil, and north of it Pooploop's 
kil, the latter apparently the name of an Indian owner. Butter- 
milk falls were called the Prince's falls, evidently from 
their ownership by a prince of " the people of the hill country." 
Plum point, north of the Highlands, was called CowonharrC s hill, 
and the rocky island lying opposite, Polebers island, which has 
been corrupted into ^PallopePs island, and invested with a 
Dutch tradition which is not its own. 

That which has been known as the Murderer's creek, from 
a period anterior to Van der Donck's Map of New Netherland 
(1656), enters the Hudson at Cornwall, and originally formed 
the starting point for the line which divided the counties of Orange 
and Ulster. That its name was derived from some unex- 



378 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



plained event or hostile action on the part of the Waoran- 
ecks appears to be conclusively established from the fact that 
it was applied to it only until it reached the castle of that 
chieftaincy on the north spur of Scbunemunk mountain, about 
seven miles from its mouth. Tradition affirms in explanation, 
that at an early period a company of traders entered the 
creek with their sloop and were enticed on shore, where they 
were murdered on a hill still known as Sloop hill in com- 
memoration of the event ; and this explanation is strengthened 
by the fact that the name of the hill is coexistent with that of 
the creek. It is here that Paulding locates his beautiful story 
of Naoman^ so generally accepted as history : 

" Little more than a century ago, the beautiful region watered 
by this stream was possessed by a small tribe of Indians, which 
has long since become extinct, or incorporated with some other 
savage nation of the west. Three or four hundred yards from 
where the stream discharges itself in the Hudson, a white family, 
of the name of Stacy, had established itself in a log house, by 
tacit permission of the tribe, to whom Stacy had made himself 
useful by a variety of little arts, highly estimated by the savages. 
In particular, a friendship existed between him and an old Indian, 
called Naoman, who had often came to his house and partook 
of his hospitality. The Indians never forgive injuries nor forget 
benefits. The family consisted of Stacy, his wife, and two 
children, a boy and a girl, the former five, and the latter three, 
years old. 

" One day Naoman came to Stacy's hut in his absence, lighted 
a pipe, and sat down. He looked very serious, sometimes 
sighed very deeply, but said not a word. Stacy's wife asked 
him what was the matter — if he was sick. He shook his head, 
sighed, but said nothing, and soon went away. The next day 
he came again and behaved in the same manner. Stacy's wife 
began to think strange of this, and related it to her husband, 
who advised her to urge the old man to an explanation, the next 
time he came.- Accordingly, when he repeated his visit, the day 
after, she was more importunate than usual At last the old 
Indian said : 4 1 am a red man, and the pale faces are our ene- 
mies } why should I speak ? ' 4 But my husband and I are 



APPENDIX. 



379 



your friends ; you have eaten salt with us a hundred times, and 
my children have sat on your knees as often. If you have any- 
thing on your mind, tell it me." " It will cost me my life if it 
is known, and the white-faced women are not good at keeping 
secrets," replied Naoman. " Try me and see." " Will you 
swear, by your Great Spirit, that you will tell none but your 
husband ? " " I have none else to tell." " But will you 
swear ? " u I do swear, by our Great Spirit, I will tell none 
but my husband." "But if my tribe should kill you for not 
telling ? " " Not if your tribe should kill me for not telling." 

" Naoman then proceeded to tell her, that, owing to some 
encroachments of the white people below the mountains, his 
tribe had become irritated, and were resolved, that night, to 
massacre all the white settlers in their reach ; that she must 
send for her husband, inform him of the danger, and as speedily 
and as secretly as possible, take their canoe and paddle with all 
haste over the river for safety. " Be quick, and do nothing 
that may excite suspicion," said Naoman, as he departed. The 
good wife sought her husband, who was on the river fishing, 
told him the story, and, as no time was to be lost, they pro- 
ceeded to their boat, which was unluckily filled with water. 
It took some time to clean it out, and meanwhile, Stacy recol- 
lected his gun which had been left behind. He proceeded to 
the house and returned with it. All this took up considerable 
time, and precious time it proved to this poor family. The 
daily visits of old Naoman, and his more than ordinary gravity, 
had excited suspicion in some of the tribe, who had, accord- 
ingly paid particular attention to the movements of Stacy. One 
of the young Indians, who had been kept on the watch, seeing 
the whole family about to take to the boat, ran to the little 
Indian village about a mile off, and gave the alarm. Five 
Indians collected, ran down to the river where their canoes 
were moored, jumped in and paddled after Stacy, who, by this 
time, had got some distance out in the stream. They gained 
on him so fast that twice he dropped his paddle and took up his 
gun. But his wife prevented his shooting, by telling him that, 
if he fired, and they were afterwards overtaken, they would 
meet with no mercy from the Indians. He accordingly refrained, 



380 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



and applied his paddle till the sweat rolled in big drops frpm his 
forehead. All would not do ; they were overtaken within a 
hundred yards from the shore, and carried back, with shouts of 
yelling and triumph. 

" When they got ashore, the Indians set fire to Stacy's house, 
and dragged himself, his wife and children to their village. 
Here the principal old men, and Naoman among them, assembled 
to deliberate on the affair. The chief men of the council 
stated, that some one of the tribe had, undoubtedly, been guilty 
of treason, in apprizing Stacy, the white man, of the designs of 
the tribe, whereby they took the alarm, and well nigh escaped. 
He proposed to examine the prisoners, to learn who gave the 
information. The old men assented to this, and Naoman among 
the rest. Stacy was first interrogated by one of the old men, 
who spoke English and interpreted it to the others. Stacy 
refused to betray his informant. His wife was then questioned, 
while at the same moment, two Indians stood threatening the 
two children with tomahawks, in case she did not confess. She 
attempted to evade the truth, by declaring that she had a dream 
the night before, which alarmed her, and that she had persuaded 
her husband to fly. 4 The Great Spirit never deigns to talk in 
dreams to a white woman,' said the old Indian. 4 Woman, 
thou hast two tongues and two faces. Speak the truth or thy 
children shall surely die. The little boy and girl were then 
brought close to her, and the two savages stood over them ready 
to execute his bloody orders. 

u< Wilt thou name,' said the old Indian, 4 the red man who 
betrayed his tribe ? I will ask three times.' The mother ans- 
wered not. c Wilt thou name the traitor ? This is the second 
time.' " The poor woman looked at her husband, and then at 
her children, and stole a glance at Naoman, who sat smoking 
his pipe with invincible gravity. She wrung her hands, and 
wept, but remained silent. ' Wilt thou name the traitor ? 'Tis 
the third and last time.' The agony of the mother waxed 
more bitter ; again she sought the eye of Naoman, but it was 
cold and motionless. The pause of a moment awaited her 
reply, and the tomahawks were raised over the heads of the 
children, who besought their mother not to let them be murdered. 



APPENDIX. 



381 



"'Stop!' cried Naoman. All eyes were turned upon him. 
4 Stop ! ' repeated he, in a tone of authority. ' White woman 
thou hast kept thy word with me to the last moment. I am 
the traitor. I have eaten of the salt, warmed myself at the 
fire, shared the kindness of these Christian white people, and it 
was I that told them of their danger. I am a withered, leafless, 
branchless trunk; cut me down if you will; I am ready.' A 
yell of indignation sounded on all sides. Naoman descended 
from the little ban£ where he sat, shrouded his face with his 
mantle of skins and submitted to his fate. He fell dead at the 
feet of the white woman by a blow of the tomahawk. 

" But the sacrifice of Naoman, and the firmness of the 
Christian white woman, did not suffice to save the lives of the 
other victims. They perished — how, it is needless to say ; and 
the memory of their fate has been preserved in the name of the 
pleasant stream, on whose banks they lived and died, which, to 
this day, is called the Murderer's creek." 

Six miles west of the scene of this tradition is the mountain 
range called Schunemunk, or, as in the early deeds, Skonnemoghky, 
on the northern spur of which, and near its base was the castle 
or village of the clan to whom it refers, and where they con- 
tinued to reside until after considerable settlements had been 
made around them. The name is also spelled Skonanoky, and 
is apparently derived from Skunna, sour, and na excellent, nuk^ 
local — probably referring to the abundance of wild grapes 
found there. On the east side of the mountain, in the town of 
Cornwall, and near the centre of the Wilson patent, was an 
Indian burial grond, so designated in a survey by General James 
Clinton. In its vicinity on the north is a hill which was called 
Winegtekonk, now known as Woodcock mountain. Further 
west, in the town of .Goshen, what is called Run-bolt's-run, 
preserves in its name and source, the name and place of resi- 
dence of Rombout, one of the chiefs who signed the deed for the 
Wawayanda tract, whose wigwam stood beside the spring from 
which the stream flows. A modern tradition associates the 
name of Wawastawa, another of the grantors of the tract, with 
the stream, through his daughter, to whom a Frenchman named 
Boltez made love. The maiden rejected his suit and fled to- 



382 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



wards her father's cabin. Just then her father's shrill whistle 
was heard, and she paused in her flight and exclaimed, " Run, 
Bolt, Run ! " an exclamation which, when the story came out, 
was applied to the streamlet. On Sugar Loaf mountain, in 
Chester, was an Indian village and burial ground some time 
after the advent of the whites. It is said that the chieftaincy 
located here paid tribute to the Senecas as late as 1756. Mis- 
tucky, a locality in Warwick, is probably an abbreviation of 
Miskotucky, a compound word implying red hills or red plains. 
Pochuck, a name applied to one of the streams of that town as 
well as to the district known as Florida, seems to retain the root 
term for bog or muddy land. 

Jogee Hill, in the town of Minisink, takes its name from and 
preserves the place of residence of Keghgekapowell alias Joghem. 
one of the grantors of lands to Governor Dongan in 1684. A 
considerable canton is said to have resided in the vicinity at an 
early period, and that Joghem remained an occupant of this hill 
long after his brethren had departed for the west. Arrowheads 
and small images of various kinds have been found here, and 
among other articles an Indian tomahawk the whole of which 
is a pipe, the pole being the bowl, and the handle the stem. 
Minnisink is from Minnis, an island, and ink, locality, and not 
from Minsis, the name of the wolf tribe of the Lenapes. The 
name has a very general application to lands, in Pennsylvania 
as well as New York, known as the Minnisink country. It 
had its origin in the tradition that the land was covered with 
water before the Delaware broke through the mountain at the 
water gap, or Pohoqualin, and is said to mean the land from 
which the water is gone. 

Entering the Hudson south of Newburgh is ^uassaick creek. 
The name is from qussuk, a stone, and the signification stony 
brook. Partly in Newburgh and partly in New Windsor is 
what is called Muchattoes Hill, a name apparently derived from 
Muhk, red ; at, near or by, and os, small — a small red hill 
near the river. 

North of Newburgh the rocky peninsula known as Dans- 
Kammer point is a feature in the landscape as well as in the 
history of the river. It was at this place that the Indians held 



APPENDIX. 



383 



their worship of the devil, on one occasion four or five hundred 
being seen here engaged in that service. There were two 
grassy plots on which the dances and other orgies were held, 
the one called the large Dans-Kammer, and the other the 
little Dans-Kammer. The first is now occupied by the Arm- 
strong house ; the second was on the rocky point which re- 
tains the name. The place has its story as well as its history. 
" Hans Hansen," the story says, " was the son of Jacobus 
Hansen, one of the # first settlers in the vinicity of Albany, and, 
except an occasional skirmish with the Indians, had enjoyed 
undisturbed peace and honor in the small circle that constituted 
his settlement. He had now arrived at such an age that the 
affairs of his farm were too fatiguing for his declining years ; 
and Hans being the eldest son, the superintendency necessarily 
devolved on him ; but so important a station could not be pro- 
perly filled without the assistance of a vrouw. Hans accordingly 
looked among the fair of his acquaintances, and, with the con- 
sent of his parents, paid his addresses to Miss Katrina Van 
Vrooman, whose residence was but a mile from his own habita- 
tion. Those were " matter of fact " days, and the girl con- 
sented, without any flirtations, to become his wife. The 
wedding day was appointed, and the neighbors invited ; but 
before the ceremony could be performed, it was necessary to 
obtain a license from the governor, whose residence was in 
New York. 

" Hans accordingly prepared to go thither for his license, and 
a party of his young friends, as well as his prospective bride, 
determined to accompany him. Katrina invited to the excursion 
an old squaw named Leshee, to whom she was much attached, 
but who was regarded by some as having intercourse with the 
Evil One, and was often consulted even in matters of import- 
ance by the superstitious Dutchmen. The day of the departure 
was marked by a severe storm, from which Leshee boded ill- 
luck ; but the party were impatient of delay, and proceeded on 
their journey. 

" The affianced pair, after three days' journey, reached the 
house of the governor, obtained the necessary license, and then 
proceeded without delay homeward. On the evening of the 



i 



384 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



sixth day they reached the Dans-Kammer. The place was 
known to them, and the company resolved to stop there and 
partake of some refreshments. Leshee remonstrated against 
visiting the scene of the rites and sacrifices of her tribe, and 
repeated the old prophetic lines — 

For none that visit the Indian's den 
Return again to the haunts of men ; 
The knife is their doom, oh, sad is their lot ; 
Beware ! beware of the blood-stained spot. 

But the evening was beautiful, the place attractive, the 
Indians at peace, their war-whoop hushed and their sacrificial 
fires extinguished ; hence they resolved to land. Drawing up 
their boats on the sandy beach, they seated themselves on the 
site of the Indians' place of worship — partook of their refresh- 
ments, joined in the dance, smoked the pipe and told the story. 

" In company with one of his friends, Hans wandered over 
the plain, and on turning espied the sparkling of an eye in a 
thick cluster of bushes. Knowing that it was no one of his 
party, he proceeded cautiously, without appearing to observe it, 
until he came near enough to see it was an Indian, when, rais- 
ing his rifle and taking deliberate aim, he directed his companion 
to make close search. Finding but one, they bound him and 
took him to the company, who were preparing to leave, and 
some of whom were already in their boats. Hans soon recog- 
nized the Indian as one with whom he had recently had trouble. 
He questioned him closely, but he refused to explain his pre- 
sence or his purposes. Finding his efforts fruitless, Hans pre- 
pared to embark, when the Indian broke the silence by a shrill 
yell. 

" The result was soon manifest. A company of warriors, 
who had concealed themselves and their canoes above the point, 
were seen darting forward with appalling velocity. Hans' only 
hope of escape was his boats. The Indians drew nearer and 
nearer — they were within an arrow's flight, and yet Katrina 
and two others were on shore. Hans faltered a moment when 
he saw the danger to which Katrina was exposed ; but it was 
momentary. Placing his knife at the breast of his captive, he 



APPENDIX. 



385 



shouted to the Indians, that if they approached a step, their 
chief should die ; but if they permitted the company to embark, 
their chief was free. The Indians knew the determination of 
Hans, and stopped ; the females were got on board, and Hans 
had stepped to shove off the boat. Just then the quick voice 
of the chief was heard, commanding his warriors to proceed. 
They hesitated until a reproach from their chief, when they 
again came forward with the rapidity of thought. 

u Death now seemed the immediate doom of the party ; but 
Hans, always ready in emergency, was prompt in this. He 
placed the chief before him and proceeded in this manner on 
board his boat. As he expected, the Indians dared not risk 
their chieftain's life, for they well knew the quick arm of Hans 
would place him between the arrow and its intended victim. 
Just at the point of safety, the Indians separated so that they 
could kill their enemy without endangering the life of their chief. 
Hans again raised his knife, and proclaimed that the first arrow 
that flew the chief should die. But the enmity of the chief 
was stronger than his love of life. He gave the war-whoop — 
a cloud of arrows darkened the air — the glittering knife descended 
and the chief was no more. Wounded, Hans stepped on board 
his boat and shoved off. The Indians flew to their canoes ; 
the pursuit was speedy and the arm of Hans weak from loss of 
blood. He was soon overtaken and carried back in company 
with Katrina and her friends. Speedily the bridal pair were 
tied to trees and tortured in all the ways savage barbarity could 
devise. Then gathering the materials for the fire, they kindled 
the flame and celebrated the dance of death around their vic- 
tims in fiendish glee, until the forms of Hans and his fair bride 
were mingled with the ashes of the pyre — their embrace of 
love was at the stake of death. 

" The remaining captives were treated more humanely, and 
were subsequently ransomed by their friends." Such is the 
tradition. 

There is no more familiar name, in Orange county, than that 
of W awayanda, nor one the significance of which is less clearly 
known. It first appears in 1703, in a petition from Dr. Staats 
in which he states that a tract which he had purchased, called 



386 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS, 



W awayanda, or W oerawin, was " altogether a swamp." Its 
next use is in the deed and patent of Wawayanda, granted 
in 1703, while yet Staats's petition was under consideration. 
Staats's purchase was never definitely located, but that it covered 
a portion of the Drowned lands is known from the fact that 
the Wawayanda patent included the lands which he claimed. 
In the deed from the Indians, and in the patent, the description 
implies that the name embraced more than one tract, the lan- 
guage being " called by the name or names of Wawayanda ; " 
while the deed to Staats is apparently located bv the name of 
Woerawin, a term which may be derived from woreco, handsome, 
or wooreecan, good, or from wewocan, from wewau, waters, and 
wocan, barking or roaring, a term descriptive of the roaring of 
waters at a high fall, or in a rushing rapid stream in a flood. 
The distinction betweea the terms more clearly appears when 
considered in connection with the use of local and general terms 
in other patents. In the deed to Governor Dongan for the 
Evans patent the language is, " comprehending* all those lands, 
meadows and woods called " by specific names, " together with 
the hills, valleys, woods," etc., surrounding and adjoining or 
within a district defined by certain natural boundaries, while 
.Minnisink embraced an undefined territory. The explanation 
would seem to be that Woerawin was the name of a particular 
part of the tract, while Wawayanda was a district embracing 
several well known and occupied lands, or a village and its 
dependencies. This explanation accords with the name itself. 
Wa, according to Schoolcraft, is a reflective plural and may 
mean he or they, or, by repetition, we ; 1 it has no descriptive 
significance whatever. Aindau-yaun is my home ; Aindau-yun, 
thy home ; Aindau-aud, his or her home ; da, town or village. 
From these terms we have W a-wa-yaun-da, signifying " our 
homes or places of dwelling," or tc our village and lands." 
Accepting the last, we find on the tract a Long house, situated 
on what is still called Long house creek, which was undoubt- 
edly the seat or castle of the canton. 

1 Substantives are generally combined or combination of both the noun and 

with inseparable possessive pronouns pre- possessive pronoun in the plural (' our 

fixed. The duplication nana, ivaiua y fathers'). — Zeisberger's Grammar, 
tvaivally distinguishes the double plural, 



APPENDIX. 



387 



The stream of water now known as the Tinbrook, — from 
the German Tinn Brock, or thin brook, — was called by the 
Indians Arackhook, or Akhgook, the Delaware term for snake, 
the reference no doubt being to the extremely sinuous course of 
its flow, which resembles the contortions of a snake when 
thrown upon a fire. In 1701, Robert Sanders 1 filed a petition 
for a patent to a tract of land described as " beginning at a fall 
(/. <?., a stream of water) called Arackhook and running thence 
northerly on the east side of the Paltz creek until it comes to a 
place called Kackawawcok, and from thence due east four miles 
into the woods, and from thence parallel to Paltz creek until a 
due west line shall touch the aforesaid fall." He stated that he 
had held the land since June 4th, 1689 ; that all the Indians 
formerly owners were dead, and asked that a patent be issued 
to himself, his son Thomas, and Johannes Bush, William, 
Sharpas, and Joseph* Cleator. He renewed the petition, April 
1 8th, 1702, calling the tract Oghgotacton, and stated that his title 
was derived from a loan which he had made to the Indian pro- 
prietor, who, as well as ail his relations, were then dead. In 
confirmation of his claim he presented the following paper : 

" Whereas, Pungnanis is indebted to Robert Sanders the value 
of seventy pounds, and being ten years gone to the Ottowawas, 
and his brother Corpowin, now going to the war, desires that ye 
said Robert Sanders may keep the land of his brother, called 
Oghotacton, till his brother pays him the said sum of seventy 
pounds, 2 Robert Sanders comes to me to ask for leave to take 
this land from the said Corpowin, and I do give him authority to 
take," etc., etc. Signed by Gov. Dongan, June 4, 1689. 

A patent was issued to Sanders under this petition, but, for 
some reason which does not appear, was not taken up by him. 



1 Robert Sanders, of Albany, was a 
distinguished and intelligent Indian trader. 
He became well versed in the languages, 
both of the Mohawks and the River 
Indians, and acted as interpreter between 
them and the English on several occasions. 
He enjoyed the confidence of the Indians 
to a high degree, and was made governor 
of Schenectady, occupying that post at 
the time of the massacre. He was par- 
ticularly designated, by Mr. Miller, as a 



proper person to furnish the government 
information in regard to the condition of 
Canada. He rendered himself so obnox- 
ious to the French governor there, in 
consequence of his opposition to the Je- 
suit missionaries among the Five Nations, 
that he was the subject of special com- 
plaint to Governor Dongan in 1687. — 
MunselPs Annals of Albany. 

2 Less then seventy dollars of United 
States currency. 



388 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



On the 30th of June, 1712, a patent was issued to Henry Wile- 
man covering the same tract but extending its boundaries west 
to the falls in the Walkill at Walden, the inference doubtless 
being that the word u fall " in Sanders' boundary had reference 
thereto. The Tinbrook enters the Walkill on the east about 
half a mile from the falls at Walden. 

Much has been written in explanation of the word Shawangunk, 
and yet the solution of the term is far from satisfactory. The 
Rev. Charles Scott, in a paper read before the Ulster Histo- 
rical Society, 1 remarks very properly that the interpretation by 
Schoolcraft, so extensively copied, that the word means white 
rocks, from shawan, white, and gunk, rock — alluding to the 
white cliffs which face the mountains west of Tuthiltown, is 
not sustained by any known vocabulary of Indian dialects. The 
word comes down to us in two principal forms, Shawangunk 
and Ckawangong, the first in the Dutch records of the Esopus 
wars, and the second in some of the early English patents. In 
the deed to Governor Dongan, in 1684, it is specified as a certain 
tract of land, the language being, " all those lands, meadows 
and woods called Nescotack, Chawangon," etc. The patent 
to Thomas Lloyd, Feb. 22, 1686, is described as at the place 
called by the Indians Chawangong. Says Mr. Scott of the 
latter : " This tract of land was situated on the west side of 
Shawangunk kil, and north of what is now known as McKin- 
stry's tannery. The next locality, to the north, was named by 
the Indians Nescotonck. On the south was Schanwemisch, or as 
the Dutch pronounced it, Whhauwemis, the beech woods, or 
place of beeches." In this manner he localizes the application 
of the name. He continues : 

" This fixes with some accuracy the bounds of the original 
Indian Shawangunk. It was a section of fine low land, situated 
mainly on the west side of Shawangunk kil, for about five miles, 
from near the mouth of the Mary kil, to the mouth of the 
Dwars kil. Two miles to the west, and near the foot of the 
mountain, was a flat called Weighquatenheuk, the place of wil- 
lows ; and about two miles east, on the Wallkill, another fine 
region of meadow and maize fields, which they designated 

1 Vol. 1, part in, 229, etc., of Proceedings. 



APPENDIX. 



389 



Wanoksink, or the place of sassafras. It was the seat of the 
main settlement of the Esopus tribe, on the east side of the 
mountains, and had, on its southern border, the village, or castle, 
which was destroyed by the Dutch in September and October, 
1663. This, and nothing else, was the Shawangunk of the 
red man. From thence the name began to spread, when the 
country was opened to European settlement, until it became 
widely used. First, the kil was made to assume it, instead of 
its appropriate Achsinink ; then the settlers along the kil for miles 
were said to have it for their home ; then the mountains or high 
hills running from Rosendale to Minnisink, were thus designated ; 
and finally the precinct and afterwards the township. And here 
let it be remarked that the name belongs in no sense whatever 
to the mountains now bearing it. The Evans patent calls them 
the high hills of Pitkiskaker and Aioskawosting. In local records, 
they are for years termed simply the high hills or the steep 
rocks. 

After a careful analysis of the word, he concludes : 
" I venture to interpret : Shawangum — south water. Shawan- 
gunk, etc., the place on or at the south water, water being referred 
togenerically,and not specifically, as the proper name of the kil. 
But to what kil and to what locality is Shawangunk relatively 
south ? Take the map of Ulster county, and notice the posi- 
tion, in respect to each other of the Rondout and of the Sha- 
wangunk kils ; and remember that the Indian paths from one 
valley to the other, ran almost due north and south, and one 
good reason is manifest. The warrior and the hunter passed 
either from the north part of Shawangunk proper through the traps, 
to Marttletown, or from the south part of the same, by Awos- 
ting lake — the Long pond — to the Kerhonkson. Stand upon the 
mountain top and glance down either path, to the. winding 
streams, and upon their corn fields, and the meaning of the 
north water or the south water, can be easily understood. 
Again, at either terminus of the Aioskawosting, or southern 
path, were Indian villages and settlements of cultivated fields. 
The one was on the north water and the other on the south, 
for in truth they thus stood towards those opposite points of 
compass. The above mentioned villages became afterwards 



390 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



the sites of the old fort and the new fort, mentioned in the 
second Esopus war." 

While Mr. Scott's investigation has brought out many facts 
of interest, it is not clear that he is correct in locating the name, 
or in explaining its meaning. If the name relates to a particular 
tract of land, then in that tract must be found its explanation ; 
if in any stream of water, as the south water, its explanation 
must be sought there. The solution may be in one of the 
paths or trails which he describes as crossing the mountain and 
extending into the southern country, one of which was taken 
by the Long Island Indians who accompanied Kregier's expedi- 
tion, in 1663, being the shortest route to their homes. This 
trail continued across the present county of Orange, where it 
formed one of the boundary lines of the lands of Christopher 
Denn, and is described in one of his deeds as the Chauwungonk 
path. It connected with the main trail which ran from Hack- 
insack to the Minnisink country, partially described in the 'Jour- 
nal of Arent Schuyler in 1694. Whether called the north or 
south trail it led to and took its name apparently from one par- 
ticular locality. This locality would seem to be indicated in 
the word itself. The first part or noun of the word, shawan or 
chawan, would seem to be from jewan, swift current or strong 
stream ; onk or gonk, a place, literally the country of the strong 
stream, or the rapid water settlement, or if interpreted in con- 
nection with some part of the Wallkill, as indicating a specific 
portion of the Chawangong trail, the reference may be to a place 
where the shallowness of the current gave to it rapidity and yet 
afforded a fording or crossing place. To precisely such a place 
the trail in question led and the ford there established was not only 
used by the Indians and the early settlers, but is still used as such. 
Another interpretation is derived from shong\ the Algonquin 
for mink, and um or oma, water, or onk, a place or country. 
This would give the mink river, or the mink country. Still 
another is derived from cheegaugong, the place of leeks, and 
has no little force in the abundance of wild onions which are 
still found in that section of country. Indeed, so universal is 
this pest of the farmer there, that they might well have given 
their name to the stream, the valley, and the mountains. 



APPENDIX. 



391 



The name of the Indian castle destroyed by Kregier, and 
which is described "as being situated at the head of the Kerhonk- 
son," has not been preserved, unless it has that preservation in 
the name of the creek itself. It is altogether probable that 
such is the fact as it would accord with Indian custom, as illus- 
trated in the case of the Pakadasank, to which reference will be 
made hereafter. In regard to this fort, as well as that called 
the New fort, Mr. Scott, in another paper, says : 

u From the Delaware to the Hudson there once existed two 
great pathways of Indian travel. The one started from the 
mouth of the Neversink or Mahakemack, at Port Jervis, and 
passing by the ancient Peenpack, and through Mamakating 
hollow, struck the Rondout at Napanoch. Thence following 
that stream through Wawarsing and Rochester, it passed over 
in Marbletown to the Esopus, and skirted the latter to its 
mouth at Saugerties. The other crossed the mountain range at 
Minnisink, to the eastern valleys, and followed the Shawangunk, 
the Wallkill and the Rondout to the Hudson. The first may 
be distinguished as the Mamakating, and the second as the 
Shawangunk trail. From trail to trail the cross paths may yet 
be traced, and in some places have been marked upon the 
mountain rocks by the passing footsteps of ages." 

It was on the Mamakating trail, about twenty-three miles 
south-west of Kingston, that he locates the Old fort, or that 
destroyed by Kregier on the 31st of July, and designates its 
site as being cc on the south side of the Kerhonkson, near the line 
between Rochester and Wawarsing, just north of what is called 
Shurker's hill, and about three miles from the mouth and at the 
head of the Kerhonkson." The New fort, or that destroyed 
on the 4th of October, he says, " was in the town of Shawan- 
gunk, on the east bank of the Shawangunk kil, and twenty- 
eight miles from Kingston." He adds : " Whatever doubts 
there may be as to the Kerhonkson village, or the Old fort, 
there can be none as to that situated on the Shawangunk. 
From the first settlement of the country the place has been 
called The New Fort. The village which was found aban- 
doned on the 4th of October, was in the vicinity of Burlingham. 
An Indian burial ground marks the spot, and a path led from 



392 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



thence to the hunting house at Wurtsboro." The site of the 
New fort, and the trails are described as follows : 

" The mouth of the Shawangunk kil is six miles away, and 
most of that distance is occupied by fine and fertile lowlands. 
From the water rises an abrupt declivity, of irregular formation, 
reaching, it may be, an elevation of 75 or 80 feet, and then 
spreading out into a beautiful sandy plateau of twenty or thirty 
acres. The hill side is covered with the original forest, and 
bYoken up into what seem to be artificial mounds. On the edge 
of the plain overlooking the creek, the fort was situated, and 
the wigwams a little distance below. To the north, along the 
kil, extends a flat of moderate dimensions ; but on the oppo- 
site side are some of the finest lowlands in Ulster county. Here 
the Indians planted their maize, and one spot is yet distinguished 
as Basha's cornfield. The plateau is covered with flints and 
arrow-heads, which every ploughing turns up to the hands of 
those who prize them. From this village a pathway, yet pre- 
served, led across the mountains to Wawarsingand the Kerhonk- 
son settlement, just twelve miles to the north. This was the 
Wawarsing trail, so well known to all the early inhabitants of 
Shawangunk and Rochester. Another trail bore off to the traps, 
and through the clove to Marbletown. And yet a third passed 
eastward to the Hudson, through Montgomery and New Wind- 
sor, and branching, near the Wallkill, to the south, gave access 
from the Esopus clans, to the wigwams of the Haverstraws and 
Hackinsacks." 

That the valley of the Wallkill was thickly peopled at the 
time of the discovery, there is no question. Along its banks 
and tributary streams imperfect but conclusive evidence is found 
of occupation both by permanent and temporary villages, and 
in the old patents are many names of localities which investiga- 
tion would clothe with interest. Skirting along the eastern 
base of the Shawangunk mountains is a stream called the Pa- 
kadasank which took its name from an Indian village or castle 
at its head. The location of this village entered into the dis- 
cussion in defining the boundaries of the Evans patent, and is 
referred to, in a paper bearing date in 1756, as follows : 



APPENDIX. 



393 



" But what proves that point past contradiction is the descrip- 
tion given of the western bounds of Evans's first purchase, which 
expressly says it extended all along said hills, etc., and the 
river Pakadasank southerly to a pond called Mallolausly (Mare- 
tange), lying on the top of the said hills. Nothing could more 
plainly point out where that pond lies, and which is the right 
pond, than the river Pakadasank which takes its rise at the foot 
of the said hills, opposite the said pond and extends northerly 
along the foot of the said hills from a place called Pakadasank, 
where the Indians who sold the land had a large settlement, 
and from that place to the head of the said river, and nowhere 
else, the said river is called by that name. And the said In- 
dian settlement called Pekadasank is said to be included in the 
first purchase, but the line run from Stony point excludes that 
land for it is southward of their pond." 

The Pakadasank has its source or head in Maretange pond 
on what was formerly called the Alaskayering mountains or 
Minnisink hills, flows north through the western part of the 
town of Crawford, and empties into the Shawangunk kil. 
Another stream, called the Little Pakadasank has similar source 
and outlet. There is reason for supposing that the Indian vil- 
lage, from which both streams took their name, was in the 
present town c f Crawford, Orange county. 

One of the boundaries of the Paltz patent, now known as 
Paltz point, was called and known by the Indians, Maggrnapogh, 
In the Ulster records is this certificate : " These are to certify 
that the inhabitants of the towns of New Paltz, being desirous 
that the first station of their patent named Moggonck might be 
kept in remembrance, did desire us, Joseph Horsbrook, John 
Hardenburgh, Roeleft Eltinge, Esq., justices of the Peace for 
the county of Ulster, to accompany them, and there being 
Ancrop, the Indian, then brought us to the High Mountain 
which he named Maggrnapogh, at or near the foot of which hill 
is a small run of water and a swamp which he called Moggonck, 
and the said Indian Ancrop affirms it to be the right Indian 
names of the said places as witness our hands this nineteenth 
day of December, 1722." Ancrop was at that time sachem of 
the Esopus Indians. 



394 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



Schoolcraft has preserved a pictographic inscription on the 
Esopus rocks, " which, from its antiquity and character appears 
to denote the era of the introduction of fire-arms and gun- 
powder among the tribes inhabiting that section of the valley of 
the Hudson." 1 He says : 

" The location of the inscription is on the western bank of 
the Hudson, at Esopus landing. Other indications have been 
reported, at sundry times, of the skill of these ancient Indians 
in inscribing figures on rocks. Tracks of human feet are 
among these objects ; but the progress of building in that 
vicinity, and the existence of but little curiosity on that head, 
appears to have destroyed these interesting traces of a people 
who now live only in history. The traditions of Ulster county 
do not refer to a period when this inscription was not there. 
The inscription may be supposed, if the era is properly con- 
jectured, to have been made with metallic tools. The lines 
are deeply and plainly impressed. It is in double lines. The 
plumes from the head denote a chief, or man, skilled in the 
Indian medico-magical art. The gun is held at rest in the 
right hand ; the left appears to support a wand. It is in the 
rampant Indian style. Such an inscription, recording the in- 
troduction of the gun, would not be made when that era had 
long past and lost its interest. Indians never resort to historical 
pictography when there is nothing new to tell. Thus the In- 
dian pictography throws a little light on the most rude and un- 
promising scene ; and if the sources of these gratifications are 
but small, we are indebted to them for this little. No attempt 
of rude nations to perpetuate an idea is ever wholly lost." 

Atkarkarton, the Indian name for Kingston, was not the name 
of an Indian village, but for a tract called by the Dutch the 
Great Plot, or meadow on which the Indians raised corn 
and beans. At is equivalent to at or by the waters. 

Nutten Hook, at Katskil, was called by the Indians Kock- 
hachchingh ; a place known to the Dutch as the Flying 
corner, was called by the Indians, Machawanick ; a small 
stream which enters " the creek called the Kats kil" on the 
south, was called ^htatawichnaak ; Silvester Salisbury, in 1678, 

1 History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, part iii, 73. Ante, p. 157. 



APPENDIX. 



395 



obtained " five great flats or plains" called Wachachkeek, Wich- 
quanachtekok, Pachquyak, Assiskowachkok, and Potick ; a tract sold to 
Jacob Lockerman was bounded on the south by a creek called 
Canasenix, " east on the river in the Great Imbocht where 
Loveridge leaves off, called by the Indians Peoquanackqua, and 
west by a place called by the Indians ^uachanock ; " and Henry 
Beekman had a tract " under the great mountains called Blue 
hills, by a place called Kiskatameck." The Mahican village 
known as Potick, was apparently located west of Athens, where 
the name is preserved in Potick hill and Potick creek, the latter 
forming the west line of the town. It may be added that the 
term Katskil was applied by the Dutch as descriptive of the 
totemic emblem of the Indians, a wolf. 

Wanton island, a short distance north of Katskill landing, 
is the site of a traditionary battle between the Mahicans and 
the Mohawks. Like other traditions which are woven into 
history, the issue involved in the conflict is a pure fiction. 
The tradition is related by Stone, in his Life of Brant, as 
follows : 

" Brown, in his History of Schoharie, gives a singular 
tradition in regard to the kings of the Mohawks, of which I 
have found no other mention. The Mohawks and River In- 
dians were once bitter enemies, the former becoming the terror 
and scourge of the latter. Brown states that the last battle 
between the Mahicans and Mohawks took place on Wanton 
island, in the Hudson river, not far from Katskil. The ques- 
tion between them was, which should have the honor of nam- 
ing their king, or which should have the tribute of the river 
tribes. Both nations collected their utmost strength upon that 
island, for the purpose of a final decision, and fought a pitched 
battle, which continued during the whole day. Towards night, 
the Mohawks, finding that the Mahicans were likely to prove 
an overmatch for them, deemed it necessary to resort to strata- 
gem, for which purpose they suddenly took to flight, and gained 
another island in the evening. They here kindled a great 
number of fires, and spread their blankets on some bushes, 
gathered and disposed around them for that purpose, as though 
they themselves had encamped by their fires as usual. The 



396 



HUDSON RIVER INDIANS. 



Mahicans following on, landed upon the Island in the depth of 
night, and were completely taken in by the deception. Sup- 
posing that the Mohawks were sleeping soundly beneath their 
blankets, after their fatigue, the Mahicans crept up with the 
greatest silence, and pouring a heavy fire upon the blankets, 
rushed upon them with knives and tomahawks in hand, making 
the air to ring with their yells as they fell to cutting and slash- 
ing the blankets and bushes instead of Indians beneath them. 
Just at the moment of their greatest confusion and exultation, 
the Mohawks, who had been lying in ambush flat upon the 
ground at a little distance, poured a murderous fire upon their 
foes, whose figures were rendered distinctly visible by the light 
of their fires, and rushing impetuously upon them, killed the 
greater part and made prisoners of the residue. A treaty was 
then concluded, by which the Mohawks, were to have the king 
and the Mahicans were to hold them in reverence, and call 
them Uncle. Hendrik was the king first named such by 
the Mohawks, after this decisive victory, " who lived to a great 
age," says Brown, " and was killed at the battle of Lake George 
under Sir William Johnson." 

The boundary line of the Coeymans tract began at a point on 
the west shore of the Hudson called Sieskasin, described as 
" opposite the middle of the island called by the Indians Sapana- 
kock." Caniskeck is also the name for a tract in the town of 
Coeymans about ten miles south of Albany. Coxackie or Kuxa- 
kee has had several interpretations. Schoolcraft defines it as 
"the place of the cut banks," where the current deflected 
against the western shore had gradually worn away the land. 
O'Callaghan says that the word is a corruption of the Algon- 
quin Kaaks-tfi/, from Kaak, a goose, and aki, locality, "the 
country of the wild goose." Another interpretation is Cook- 
sockuy, signifying owl-hoot. The most satisfactory explana- 
tion will be found perhaps in co, object, and aki, land, the 
reference being to the clay banks which rise there to the height of 
ioo feet, and form a conspicuous object in the river scenery. 
Neweskeke or Naveskeek, about ten mile^ south of Albany, is 
described as being a corner or neck of land having a fresh water 
river running to the east of it. 



APPENDIX. 397 

Coeyman's Hollow was called Achquetuck, and the creek, 
Oniskethau. Another creek is still known by the Indian name, 
Hahnakrois. 




Coeyman's Creek. 



Sunckhagag is recorded as the name of the tract from Beeren 
island to Smack's island. 1 The boundaries extended two days' 
journey into the interior. Tawalsontha was the Mahican name 
of the creek now called Norman's kil, in the town of Bethle- 
hem, and Tawassgunshee that of the mound on which Fort 
Orange was erected. Schoolcraft gives Tawasentha a§ the 
orthography of the former term and regards it as signifying 
" the place of the many dead," adding that the Mohawks once 
had a village there, and that in excavating the road to Bethlehem 
an Indian burial ground was opened. But the Mohawks never 
had a village there, and the interpretation is in apparent viola- 
lation of the custom of the Indians in bestowing names. We 
have yet to find the name of an Indian burial ground, and espe- 
cially a stream of water and a burial ground bearing the same name. 

1 The name appears on both sides of the river, ante, p. 374. 



398 



HUDSON RIFER INDIANS. 



Schenectady* is said to signify " beyond the plains." School- 
craft gives Con-no-harrie-go-harrie as the original name of the 
site of that city, and says " the name is in allusion to the flood 
wood on the flats." Another authority gives Oron-nygh-wurrie- 
gughre as the name of the region immediately around the city, 
but it has been very wisely dropped notwithstanding its signifi- 
cation, maize lands. Canastagione, a tract in Albany county, 
is said to mean the great maize land, from onuste (Mohawk) 
maize, and couane, great. It is added that Niskayunah, the 
present name of this tract, is only a variation of Canastagione, 
and is derived from onatschia another Iroquois word for maize, 
the o and / being dropped. (O'C.) 

Saratoga is said to be derived from soragh, salt, and oga, a 
place, the place of the salt springs. Schoolcraft says the 
word is from assarat, sparkling waters, and oga, a place, but 
evidently bases his interpretation on the hypothesis that Sara- 
toga springs are referred to. The name was first applied, how- 
ever, to the site of the present village of Schuylerville on the 
Hudson, and in that connection is said to signify swift water. 
On Sauthier's map the name is given to a lake west of Schuy- 
lerville. Gov. Dongan endeavored to reclaim the Mohawk 
converts from Canada and settle them here in 1687. He writes : 
" I have done my endeavors and have gone so far in it that I 
have prevailed with the Indians to consent to come back from 
Canada on condition that I procure for them a piece of land 
called Serachtague lying upon Hudson's river about forty miles 
above Albany, and there furnish them with priests." A fort 
was subsequently erected there and a settlement formed. In the 
war qf 1745, the fort was destroyed by the French, together 

1 The Iroquois name for the spot where bany ; Ohnoivalagantle, the town of 

Albany now stands was Skenectadea. Schenectady j CaAohatatea, the north or 

In regard to this and other Iroquois geo- Hudson river 5 Tioghsdhronde, the place 

graphical names in that vicinity, Dr. or places where streams empty them- 

Mitchill, in answer to an inquiry from selves. " What their etymologies are," 

the Rev. Dr. Miller, in 18 10, on in- he adds, "I have not been able to ascer- 

formation from John Bleecker, for many tain, except as to Skenectadea, Albany, 

years an interpreter of the Iroquois, as which signifies the place the natives of 

well as from the Oneida chief, Louis, the Iroquois arrived at by travelling 

and other Indians, writes that Canneoga- through the pine trees." — Collections of 

nakalonitade was their name for the Mo- the New York Historical Society y 1, 43. 
hawk river j Skenectadea; the city of Al- 



APPENDIX. 



399 



with about twenty houses ; thirty persons were killed and 
scalped, and about sixty taken prisoners. 1 The Indians were not 
occupants of the place at the time of this occurrence. Water- 
ford, Saratoga county, was called Nachtenack, and the island, 
known as Long Island, near Waterford, ^uahemiscos. There 
is apparently a mixture of the Mahican and Mohawk dialects in 
some of the names in this section of the state. 

Cohoes, a term still preserved in the falls of the Mohawk, was 
not the name of the falls but of the island below them, and, 
from its diminutive termal oes, is presumed to mean simply a 
small island. Regarding co as expressing object, the first syl- 
lable may have reference to the falls, in which case the render- 
ing would be, the island at the falls ; or applied to the falls, 
would class them as small compared with Niagara. The 
term is Mahican, and is applied in another form to a district in 
New Hampshire, the Coos country. Van der Donck says 
of the falls, as they appeared in 1656 : " The water glides over 
the falls as smooth as if it ran over an even wall and fell over 
the same. The precipice is formed of firm blue rock ; near 
by and below the falls there stand several rocks, which appear 
splendid in the water rising above it like high turf-heaps, appa- 
rently from eight, sixteen, to thirty feet high ; very delightful to 
the eye. The place is well calculated to exalt the fancy of the 
poets. The ancient fabulous writers would, if they had been 
here, have exalted those works of nature, by the force of 
imagination, into the most artful and elegant descriptive illu- 
sions. The waters descend rapidly downwards from the falls, 
over a stony bottom, skipping, foaming and whirling boisterously 
about the distance of a gun-shot or more." 

1 Ante, p. 205. 



ERRATA. 



Page 9, 9th line, for then, read than. 

44 9, 19th line, for hospitality, so, read hospitality. So he. 

44 18, Mth line, for Agassis, read Agassiz. 

44 24, 9th line, for make, read also. 

44 27, 21st line, for sacrifice and fires, read sacrificial fires. 

44 27, 22d line, for Kitxinaeia read Kitzinacka. 

44 27, 29th line, for were, read where. 

44 29, 26th line, for presents be, read presents were. 

44 29, 27th line, for it, read was. 

44 32, 5th line, for called, read asked. 

44 6j, 3d line, for at, read above. 

44 66, 14th line, for causes,, read cause. 

44 87, 10th line, for 1680, read 1630. 

44 154, 24th line, for soon he, read soon as he. 

44 172, 27th line, for concede, read accede. 

44 176, 13th line, for permanent, read their. 

44 187, nth line, for others read other. 

44 197, 26th line, for TotaiH, read Potatik. 

44 253, 4th line, for Mahicans, read Mohegans. 

44 261, 1st line for predecessors, read predecessor. 

Errors in uniformity of orthography not noted. 



INDEX. 



Abenaquis, a Mahican nation, 41 $ 
murder Mohawk chiefs, 156; 
English agree not to assist, 1 59 ; 
made peace with the Iroquois, 183 ; 
make peace with the Mahicans, 
252; Iroquois refuse to renew war 
with, 193 

Abraham, or Schabash, a Mahican chief, 
converted by Moravians, 197 5 
made captain by Mahicans, 89 ; 
assistant at Gnadenhiitten, 89; 
elected chief sachem of Mahicans 
of the Delaware, 197 
Little, sachem of Lower Mohawk 
castle, 264; brother of King Hen- 
drik, 313; succeeds King Hen- 
drik, 264 

Abrahamsen, Isaac, rescues an Indian 
boy, 107 

Ackhough, sachem of Weckquaesgeeks, 
79 

Adair, James, theory of, concerning ori- 
gin of American Indians, 16 

Adogbegnewalquo, a Mohawk chief, ad- 
dress of, 141 

Aepjin, chief sachem of Mahicans, 58 ; 
party to treaty of 1645, 118 5 to- 
temic signature of, 119; council fire 
at Schodac, 58 j authorized to treat 
for Esopus Indians, 137 

Aepjin's island, 375 

Agassiz, theory of, 17 

Analysis of tribes and chieftaincies, 71 

Andastes, war with the Iroquois, 55 

Andros, Governor, offers lands to fugitive 
Indians, 177; invites Pennacooks to 
settle at Schaticook, 63 

Andriaensen, Maryn, in command at 
massacre at Corlear's Hook, 106 

Ankerop, sachem of Esopus Indians, 201 

Ann Hoock, alias Wampage, a chief of 
Siwanoys, 81 

Ann Hutchinson, murder of, 112 

daughter of, returned from capti- 
vity, 118 



Albany, Fort Nassau erected at, 99 j 
Fort Orange erected at, 99 ; Dutch 
make treaty with Mahicans and 
Iroquois at, 54 ; surrendered to the 
English, 158 ; English establish 
council fire at, 1 61 ; council fire re- 
moved from, to Mount Johnson, 
222 ; commissioners of congress hold 
council with Iroquois at, 263 j 
aboriginal name of, 398 

Algonquin language, 64; grammar of, 
338 

Aix la Chapelle, conditions of treaty of, 
208 

Algonquin nations, 56, 64 

Allegewi, tradition concerning, 45 

Alliances, how formed, 32 

Alliance, nature of, between the Dutch 
and the Iroquois, 145 ; of Dutch with 
Long Island chieftaincies, 124; of 
English with Iroquois and Mahicans, 
158 

Ampamit, address of, to Gov. Burnet, 191 
Appamanskoch, sachem of Raritans, 90 
Aquackanonks, location of, 91 
Armies, how composed, 30 
Ashhurst, Sir John, buys lands of Wao- 

ranecks, 93 
Assiapam, sachem of Matinecocks, 74 
Assinapink creek, 92, 377 
Atkarkarton, Kingston so called, 125, 

Attention in sickness, 23 
Atyataronghta, Louis, captain of Oneidas, 

aids the Americans, 284 
Aupamut, see Hendrik, Captain 
Barren Hill, Mahicans in battle of, 286 
Bald Eagle, a Lenape chief, death 0^256 
Beeren, or Mahican island, 85, 374 
Bellomont, Gov., description of an Indian 

conference, 186 
Bennington, battle of, 275 
Biographical Sketches, 299 

Abraham, Little, sachem of Lower 
Mohawk castle, 264 



402 



INDEX. 



Biographical Sketches, continued — 

Allummapees, chief sachem of Len- 

apes, 300 
Aupaumut, or Captain Hendrik, 

chief sachem of Mahicans, 320 
Benevissica, chief sachem of Shaw- 

anoes, 306 
Black Kettle, a war-captain of the 

Five Nations, 316 
Chambers, Captain Thomas, 138 
Corn-planter, a sachem of the Sene- 

cas, 317 

Cornstalk, a war-captain of Shaw- 

anoes, 306 
Dean, Rev. James, 216 
Garangula, an Onondaga chief, 316 
Johnson, Sir John, 265 
Johnson, Sir William, 260 
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, 261 
Konapot, John, Captain, a Mahican, 

320 

Kryn, war-captain of Caghnawagas, 
180 

Logan, a Mingoe chief, 314 
Minichque, a Mahican sachem, 185, 
319 

Montour, Catharine, 276 
Nererahhe, chief sachem of Shaw- 

anoes, 306 
Netawatwees, chief sachem of Lena- 

pes, 303 

Nimham, Daniel, chief sachem of 

Wappingers, 329 
Occum, Rev. Samson, a Mahican, 

Passaconnaway, chief sachem of 

Pennacooks, 317 
Paxinos, chief sachem ofShawanoes, 

305 , 
Red Jacket, a Seneca chief, 317 
Saunders, Robert, 357 
Shabasch, or Abraham, a Mahican 

chief, 328 
Shingas, a Lenape war captain, 219 
Skenando, an Oneida chief, 317 
Soiengarahta ; or King Hendrik of 

the Mohawks, 310 j portrait of, 

70 

Soquans, a Mahican sachem, 184, 
319 

Tadame, chief sachem of Lenapes, 
301 

Tamany, chief sachem of Lenapes, 
300 

Tecumseh, a Shawanoe chief, 308 
Teedyuscung, chief sachem of Lena- 
pes, 301 

Thayendanega, or Joseph Brant, 313 



Biographical Sketches, continued — 

Wasarnapah, or Tyschoop, a Mahi- 
can chief, 197, 327 

White Eyes, Captain, chief sachem 
of Lenapes, 305 
Block-houses constructed in Minnisink 

country, 240 
Bloom, Domine, description of Esopus 

massacre, 147 
Boone, Daniel, 257 

Bouwensen, Thomas, roasted and eaten 
by Mohawks, 100 

Boquet, Col., expedition of, 246, 248 

Braddock, General, 220, 222 

Bradstreet, Col., expedition of, 248 ; opin- 
ion of, concerning Iroquois, 249 

Brainerd, Rev. David, missionary labors, 
196, 198 

Brant, Molly, 259, 261, 275 

Joseph, 261, 265 ; sent to England, 
265; accepts war-belts of the 
crown, 266 ; organizes warriors in 
English service, 267 j Herkimer 
holds conference with, 267, 268 j 
descent of, on Wyoming valley, 
276 ; commits depredations in Or- 
ange and Ulster, 277 ; Minnisink, 
commands massacre at, 278, 279 j 
defeated at Fort Plain, 284; 
flight of, at Fort Schuyler, 274 ; 
efforts of, to arouse western tribes, 
290 j biographical sketch of, 313 

Bull, Captain, son of Teedyuscung, 247 

Burgoyne, Gen., expedition of, 273 

Burnet, Governor, address to Mahicans, 

Butler, John, accompanies Guy Johnson, 
263 

Walter N., accompanies Guy John- 
son, 263 j commands in expedition 
against Mohawk valley settle- 
ments, 283; killed by an Oneida 
warrior, 285 
Caghnawaga, Mohawk village of, 61, 97 ; 
attacked by Mahicans, 97 j de- 
stroyed by the French, 97 ,• 
Dutch embassadors visit, 1325 
converted by Jesuits, 179, 211 j 
Dutch village at, destroyed by 
John Johnson, 283 

Nation, or Praying Indians, 179, 
211 

Calmet, theory of, 16 
Canada, settlement of, commenced, 53 
Canestogaes, massacre of, 245 
Canassatiego, an Iroquois viceroy, speech 
of, 69 

Canopus, sachem of Nochpeems, 80 



INDEX. 



403 



Captains, war chiefs so called, 31 
Captahem, sachem of Aquackanonks, 91 
Carnarsees, location of, 72 
Cartwright, Col. George, makes treaty 

with Iroquois, 158 
Castles, mode of constructing, 25 
Catholic priests, labors of, 166, 168 ; law 

in relation to, 176 
Cayugas, one of the Iroquois nations, 35 5 

village of, 98 5 accept the war belts 

of the English, 273 
Chambers, Thomas, Capt. settles at Eso- 

pus, 125 j biographical sketch of, 133 
Champlain, discovers Lake Champlain, 53 

aids the Hurons, 53 ; encourages 

conversion of Indians, 156 
Chaatity of females, 22 
Chesekock tract, 83, 377 
Chegonoe, sachem of Rockaways, 73 
Chekatabut, a Massachusetts Mahican 

chief, 61 
Child birth, 23 

Claus, Daniel, 259; appointed superin- 
tendent of Canada, 260 
Claverack, village of, 63 ; creek, name of, 

Clinton, Governor, appeal of, to the Iro- 
quois, 205 

DeWitt, theory of, 16 

Gen. James, commands in expedi- 
tion against Iroquois, 279 

Gov. George, commands in expedi- 
tion for relief of Schoharie valley, 
284 

Coginiquant, sachem of Nesaquakes, 74 
Colden, Lieut. Gov., 57 
Coleman, John, killed by the Indians, 9 
Colonists, efforts, of, to secure neutrality of 

Indian tribes in Revolution, 261 
Communipau, aboriginal name of, 90, 376 
Conarhanded, sachem of Weckquaes- 

geeks, 79 

Connecticut, agents purchase lands at 
Wyoming, 216; determine to oc- 
cupy, 150, 259 

Conflict with Indians, at Stony Point, 
11 ; at Shorackappock, 11, 77 

Conference at Albany, 1754, 212, at 
Albany, 1776, 263 

Congress, Continental, established three 
Indian Departments, 263 ; organ- 
izes expedition against the English 
Indian allies, 279 ; address of, to 
Iroquois, 280 j treaty of, with Iro- 
quois, 289 

Corchaugs, location of, 74 

Corlear's Hook, massacre of Indians at, 
106, 108 ; aboriginal name of, 361 



Cornbury, Gov., attends conference at 

Albany, 184. 
Cornstalk, commands Lenapes and Sha- 

wanoes, 256} biographical sketch of, 

307 

Corn-planter, a Seneca chief, leads an 
attack on Oneidas, 282 j driven from 
power by Red Jacket, 290; no- 
ticed, 317 

Cortland's Ridge, Mahicans in battle of, 
287 

Couwenhoven, negotiates with Esopus 

Indians, 151, 154 
Cralo,'Fort, at Greenbush, 149 
Cresap's War, causes of, 255 
Croton, traditionary sachem of Kitcha- 

wongs, 79 

Croton river, aboriginal name of, 79, 
366 

Croghan, George, commissioner to treat 
with Western Indians, 209 ; assistant 
to Sir Wm. Johnson, 250, 259 ; 
superintendent of Ohio country, 260 

Crown Point, expedition for capture of, 
failure of, 224 

Custalaga, a Lenape chief, removal of, 
258 

Dans-Kammer, devil worship at, 29, 
94; boundary line at the, 93 ; 
Couwenhoven at the, 151; tradi- 
tion of the, 382 
Dean, Rev. James, labors of, among 
Oneidas and Tuscaroras, 261 ; bio- 
graphical notice of, 261 
Declarations of war, 31 
Deeds, explanation of signatures to, 93 
DeHart, Balthazar, purchases lands, 92 
Dcnotas, or bags for measuring corn, 26 
DeVries, David Pietersen, plantation of, 
on Staten Island, destroyed, 102 ; 
locates among the Tappans, 91 $ 
endeavors to prevent massacre of 
fugitive Indians, 106; plantation of, 
spared by Indians, 109 ; negotiates 
treaty of peace, 1095 plantation de- 
stroyed, 113 
Dieskau, Baron, commands French ex- 
pedition for reduction of Oswego, 
223; mortally wounded in battle at 
Ticonderoga, 224 
Dobb's Ferry, aboriginal name of, 78 
Dongan, Gov., purchases lands on the 
Hudson, 93, 95; endeavors to de- 
feat the operations of the French, 
169; gives medals to the Iroquois, 
169 ; appeals to James II, to main- 
tain alliance with Iroquois, 169 5 
asks for Catholic priests, 169 



404 



INDEX. 



Dress, of an Indian belle, 21 ; Hudson's 
description of, 8 ; Verazzano's de- 
scription of, 19 

Dwellings and mode of construction, 24 

Du Bois, Mrs. Louis, captured by the 
Esopus Indians, 153; tradition con- 
cerning, 153 

Dunmore, Gov., 257 

Dutch, neutrality of, in Indian wars, 54; 
treaty of, with Mahicans, etc., 54; 
send embassadors to the Mohawks, 
132; responsible for the Manhattan 
wars, 119} responsible for the Eso- 
pus wars, 1 34 j surrender province 
to the English, 158 

Eelkins, Jacob, imprisons chief of the Se- 
quins, 100 

Emerick, Col., account of battle of Cort- 
land's Ridge, 286, 287 

English capture Fort Amsterdam, 1585 
treaty with the Iroquois, 55, 1585 
treaty with Mahicans, 158, 160; 
laws regulating intercourse with the 
Indians, 162; treaty of Esopus, 1 63 

Eskmoppas, sachem ofRockaways, 73 

Esopus, derivation of term, 94 5 first settle- 
ment at, 125; settlers at, abandon 
lands, 112, 123; first war at, 1205 
Stuyvesant solicited to protect, 125 5 
buildings destroyed at, 125; new 
village established at, 128 ; second 
war of, 133, 1 34 ; torture of prisoners 
at, 135 ; village held in siege, 135 ; 
peace established at, 1425 renewal 
of hostilities at, 147 ; new village, 
destroyed, 147; description of 
massacre at, 1475 peace re-established 
at, 155; inscription on rocks at, 157, 
394 

Esopus Indians, chieftaincies of, 94, 95 ; 
make peace with the Senecas, 68} 
first war with the Dutch, 120; sa- 
chems solicit peace, 128 j Stuyvesant 
holds conference with, 1295 Indians 
massacred at, 133; renew hostilities, 
135 ; treaty of peace with (1660), 
142; Stuyvesant sends chiefs into 
slavery, 1385 demand renewal of 
treaty, 146} second war with, 147; 
treaty of peace with (1663), 155; 
treaty of, with the English, 163 $ a 
portion of, remove to Oghawaga, 20 1 , 
2725 conference with domestic 
clans, 201 5 friendly, invited to re- 
move from back settlements, 230 j 
friendly, massacred near Walden, 
331; friendly, remove to Ticonde- 
roga, 97,2305 condition of, 1768, 253 



Evert Pels, a Dutch prisoner, escapes tor- 
ture by adoption, 144 

Fantinekil, attack on, 277 

Festivals, 27, 116 

Five Nations, see Iroquois 

Fletcher, Gov., 175; hastens to the re- 
lief of the Mohawks, 175 

Food and mode of preparation, 24 

Fort Amsterdam held in siege by the In- 
dians, 113, 123 : surrendered to the 
English, 158} Nassau, construction 
of, 99 j Necessity, Washington 
erects, 211 5 Niagara, erected by the 
French, 282 ; headquarters of In- 
dians and Tories in war of Revolu- 
tion, 282; Orange, construction of, 
99 ; Plain, battle of, 284 ; Schuyler, 
siege of, 273 

Franklin, Benjamin, commands expedi- 
tion to build Fort at Gnadenhiitten, 
228 

French, employ Catholic missionaries, 
168 ; secure treaty of neutrality, 
with Duke of York, 169; make 
prisoners of Iroquois chiefs by treach- 
ery, 171 5 at war with the Senecas, 
171; yield to the demands of the 
Iroquois, 172; Indian war of 1689, 
1725 preparation for war, 189; Iro- 
quois and Mahican converts aid, 
187; tribes in alliance with, 190 ; 
interpretation of treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, 208 ; erect monuments in 
Ohio valley, 208 $ Washington de- 
feats near Great Meadows, 210 j 
compel Washington to evacuate Fort 
Necessity, 211 $ liberality of, to In- 
dian allies, 211 j surrender possession 
of Canada, 243 ; changes in relation 
with Indian tribes caused by with- 
drawal of the, 249 ; residents of the 
Ohio valley encourage hostilities 
against the English, 257 ; Mohawks 
agreement of, with Iroquois, 204 

Frontenac, Count de, governor of Canada, 
173; plans expeditions against the 
English, 1735 invades the Mohawk 
country and destroys their castles, 
175 ; invades the Onondaga coun- 
try, 176 

Galissoniere, commissioned to occupy 

Ohio valley, 208 
Gallatin, Hon. Albert, statement of, con- 
cerning subjugation of Mahicans, 56 
Garangula, a chief of Onondagas, 316 
Gardiner, Lion and David, 76 
German Flats, commissioners of congress 
held conference with Iroquois at, 263 



INDEX. 



405 



Gil, sachem of Seatalcats, 74 

Gist, Christopher, commissioned to treat 

with Western tribes, 209 
Geographical nomenclature, 361 

Accopogue, village of, Long Island, 
365 

Alipconck, Tarrytown, 366 
Appamaghpogh, near Verplanck's 

Point, 367 
Aquehung, or Byram river, 367 
Apawquammis, Rye Neck, 367 
Armonck, Byram river, 367 
Apoquague, Silver Lake, Dutchess 

county, 370 
Assinnapink creek, Orange county, 

377 

Arackhook, Tinn Brock, Orange 

county, 387 
Alaskayering mountains, Orange 

county, 393 
Ackkinkashacky, Hackinsack, 396 
Amboy, New Jersey, 376 
Arissheck, Paulus Hook, 376 
Atkarkarton, Kingston, 394 
Achquetuck, Coeyman's Hollow, 

39.7 . 

Achsinink, Shawaugunk kill, 389 
Aioskawosting, Shawangunk, Ul- 
ster county, 389 
Chesekook, Rockland county, 377 
Cowonham's hill, Plum point, 377 
Cachtanaquick island, 375 
Caniskeck, Coeymans, 396 
Coxackie, Greene county, 396 
Canastagione, Niskayunah, 398 
Cohoes Falls, 399 

Dionondahowa, falls on Batten kil, 
37°. 

Equorsink, Crum Elbow, 372 
Gamoenapa, Communipau, 376 
Huppogues, Smithtown, Long Is- 
land, 365 
Hobokenhacking, Hoboken, 376 
Haquequenunck, Patterson, 376 
Hannakrois creek, 397 
Hoosack, Rensselaer county, 376 
Ishpatinck, Brooklyn Heights, 376 
Jogee Hill, Orange county, 382 
Kapsee, Copsie Point, New York, 
361 

Kitchawonck, Croton river, 366 
Kittatenny, Anthony's nose, 367 
Kookpake Lake, Columbia county, 
373 

Keeseywego, creek opposite Albany, 
375 

Kockhachchingh, Nutten Hook, 
Katskill, 394 



Geographical nomenclature, continued — 
Kiskatameck, Katskill, 395 
Kumochenack, Haverstraw bay, 

377 

Kackawawook, Orange county, 387 
Kerhonkson, Ulster county, 391 
Kaunaumeek, Massachusetts, 86 
Manhattan, New York, 361 
Muscoota, New York, 362 
Matawucks, Staten Island, 362 
Manetto hill, Long Island, 364 
Mecox bay, Long Island, 364 
Mereyekawick, Brooklyn, 365 
Meghkeekassin, a rock, Yonkers, 
365 

Montauk, Long Island, 365 
Meahagh, Verplanck's point, 367 
Magopson, New Rochelle, 367 
Muscoota, Harlem river, 367 
Mockquams, Blind Brook, 367 
Mahopak lake, Putnam county, 
368 

Matteawan creek, Dutchess county, 
370 

Mahicanituk, Hudson's river, 42 
Mankackkewachky, Raritan mea- 
dows, 376 
Minnisconga, Stony point, 377 
Mistucky, Warwick, Orange county, 
382 

Minnisink, Orange county, 382 
Muchattoes Hill, Orange county, 
382 

Matapan creek, Dutchess county, 
371 

Machackoesk, Kinderhook, 374 
Maggrnapogh, New Paltz, Ulster 

county, 393 
Machawanick, Katskill, 394 
Naghtognk, Corlear's Hook, New 

York, 361 
Nepeage, Long Island, 365 
Namke Creek, Long Island, 365 
Namke creek, Long Island, 365 
Neperah, saw mill creek, 365 
Nappeckamak, Yonkers, 365 
Narrasunck, Haverstraw, 377 
Neversink Hills, New Jersey, 376 
Neweskeke, Albany county, 396 
Nescotonck, Shawangunk, Ulster 

county, 388 
Nanapenahekan creek, Columbia 

county, 372 
Occopoque, Riverhead, Long Island, 

3 6 5 . 

Ossingsing, Sing Sing, 366 
Oniskethau, Coeymans creek, 397 
Peconic bay, Long Island, 364 



406 



INDEX. 



Geographical nomenclature, continued — 
Papirinimen, Spuyten Devil creek, 
365 

Poconteco river, Westchester county, 
3 6 7 

Poningo, Westchester county, 367 
Pockestersen, Stony Brook, 367 
Pachgatgoch, Schaticook, 195 
Pompton river, New Jersey, 377 
Pooploop's kil, Orange county, 377 
Poleber's Island, Pallopel's Island, 
377 

Pochuck, Warwick, Orange county, 
382 

Pakadasank, Orange county, 392 
Poghkeepke, Poughkeepsie, 371 
Passapenock, Beeren Island, 374 
Poetanock, Mill creek, opposite 

Albany, 375 
Petuquapoen, Greenbush, 375 
Paanpaack, Troy, 375 
Panhoosick, north of Troy, 375 
Passaic river, New Jersey, 376 
Potick, Athens, Greene county, 385 
Pitkiskaker, Shawangunk, Ulster 

county, 389 
Quinnahung, Westchester county, 

3 6 7 

Quaroppas, White Plains, 367 
Querapoquett, Dutchess county, 371 
Quaspeck, Verdrietig Hook, 377 
Quassaick creek, Newburgh, 382 
Quequicke, Hoosic Falls, 376 
Rechtauck, New York, 362 
Ronconcoa lake, Long Island, 364 
Ranachque, Morisania, 367 
Rippowams, Stamford, Ct., 368 
Ramapo river, 377 
Raritan river, 376 
Sappokanikan, New York, 361 
Sewanhackey, Long Island, 365 
Sackhoes, Peekskill, 166 
Senasqua, Teller's Point, 366 
Sacrahung, Mill river, 367 
Shappequa, Westchester county, 367 
Shenandoah, Dutchess county, 370 
Shecomeco, Dutchess county, 86, 
371 

Schunemunk mountain, Orange 

county, 381 
Shawangunk, Ulster county, 388 
Sankpenak, RoelofF Jansen's kil, 

37a 

Scompamuck, Ghent, Columbia 

county, 373 
Schodac, Columbia county, 58, 374 
Schotack, Aepjin's Island, 375 
Sieskasin, Coeymans, 396 



Geographical nomenclature, continued — 
Sunckhagag, Albany county, 87, 
397 

Schenectady, Albany, 398 
Saratoga, Saratoga county, 398 
Seepus, Esopus river, 94 
Sannahagog, opposite Albany, 374 
Sheepshack, Lansingburgh, 375 
Schanwemisch, Ulster county, 388 
Sackahampa, Columbia county, 373 
Totama, Passaick Falls, 376 
Tuphanne, Rockland county, 377 
Tongapogh kil, Orange county, 377 
Taghkanick mountains, Columbia 

county, 373 
Twastawekah, Klaverack creek, 

372, 374 
Taeseameasick, Lansingburgh, 375 
Tioneendogahe, Batten kil, 375 
Ticonderoga, 375 

Tawalsontha, Norman's kil, 99, 

397 

Tawassgunshee, Fort Orange, Al- 
bany, 397 
Warpoes, New York, 362 
Wanoksink, Ulster county, 389 
Wawijchtanok, Columbia county, 

85, 86, 372 
Wnahktakook, Westenhuck, 62, 86 
Weckquaesgeek, Westchester Co., 
78,366 

Wysquaqua, Wicker's creek, 78 
Waumainuck, Delancey's neck, 367 
Weputing, Dutchess county, 369 
Wicopee, Dutchess county, 370 
Wappingers Falls, Dutchess Co., 
370 

Wechquadnach, Conn., 371 
Wynogkee creek, Dutchess county, 
371 

Wiehacken, Wehawken, New Jer- 
sey, 376 

Wachtung mountains, New Jersey, 
376 

Winegtekonk mountain, Orange 

county, 381 
Wawayanda, Orange county, 385 
Wawanaquassick, Columbia county, 

37* 

Wallomschock river, Bennington, 
Vt., 375 

Willehoosa, Port Jervis, Orange 
county, 96 

Gnadenhutten, Moravians settle at, 198 j 
Mahican converts remove to, 198 ; 
attacked by Lenapes, 220 ; converts 
fly to Pennsylvania for protection 
against Presbyterians, 245 



INDEX. 



407 



Goethals, sachem of Wappingers, 84,299; 
solicits peace on behalf of Esopus In- 
dians, 136 

Goharius, sachem of Weckquaesgeeks, 79 
Gouwarrowe,sachem of Matinecocks, 74; 
security for Hackinsacks and Tap- 
pans, 117 
Government and laws, 29 
Greenbush, Mohicans ravage, 60 

aboriginal name, 375 
Haaskouaun, an Iroquois chief, 172 
Hackinsacks, location of, 90; Van der 
Horst settles among, 104; a warrior 
of, robbed, 104; complaint of, re- 
garding presents, I II ; young men 
clamor for war, 1 1 1 ; take part in 
war of 1643, no; propose an ex- 
change of prisoners, 123 5 negotiate 
'on behalf of Esopus Indians, 139 
Harmer, Gen., commands expedition 
against Lenapes and Shawanoes, 
291 

Hathorn, Col., commands in battle of 
Minnisink, 278 

Haverstraw, location of 92 ; bay, abori- 
ginal name of, 377 

Hendrik, chief sachem of Mohawks, 
visits England, 1885 addresses con- 
ference at Albany, 213; takes part 
in expedition against Crown Point, 
223; killed in battle at Lake George, 
224; biographical sketch of, 310; 

Hendrik, Captain, a Mahican chief, 271 ; 
speech of, at Albany, 272 ; bio- 
graphical sketch, 320 

Herkimer, Gen., holds conference with 
Brant, 267 ; mortally wounded at 
Oriskany, 274 

Hiawatha, the story of, 36 

Hoosic French capture fort at, 204 5 
aboriginal name of, 375, 376 

Hoosic falls, aboriginal name of, 376 

Horikans, location of, 85 

Housatonic river, neutral boundary line, 
62 

Hudson, Henry, 7 ; conflict of, with In- 
dians at Stony Point, 11; conflict 
of, with Indians at Shorackappock, 
II, 77 ; discovers the Mahicanituk, 

7 ; intoxicates Indians at Castleton, 
10; traditions respecting his visit, 
12; visits Indians at the Narrows, 

8 ; visits Indians at Castleton, 9 
Hunter, Gov., attends conference at Al- 
bany, 189 

Hutchinson, Ann, killed by Weckquaes- 
geeks, 112; daughter of, returned 
from captivity, 118 



Indian villages and localities, 34, 361 
Albany county, 85, 87, 96, 397 
Columbia county, 85, 88, 372 
Dutchess county, 83, 369 
Greene county, 95, 394 
Long Island, 72, 364 
New Jersey, 89, 376 
New York, 361 
Orange county, 93, 377 
Putnam county, 80, 368 
Rensselaer county, 85, 374 
Rockland county, 91, 377 
Staten Island, 91, 362 
Saratoga county, 59, 398 
Ulster county, 94, 388 
Westchester county, 77, 365 

Iroquois confederacy, 35 ; territory of, 
35 ; tradition respecting origin, 35 ; 
tribal divisions, 36, 96 ; totemic em- 
blems, 49 ; tradition respecting or- 
ganization of confederacy, 36 ; called 
the Five Nations, 36, 39; form of 
government, 39 ; organization of 
confederacy, 39; national council, 
40; political supremacy, 52; wars 
with the Hurons, 53 ; defeated by 
Champlain, 53 ; territory invaded by 
the French, 54 ; make treaty with 
the Dutch, 54; treaties with the 
English, 53, 55, 158; French de- 
termine to destroy, 171 ; chiefs made 
prisoners by treachery, 172 ; Mahi- 
cans in alliance with, 160, 172; 
capture Montreal, 173 ; threaten 
Quebec, 173 ; losses sustained in the 
war of 1689, 179; refuse to break 
their treaty with the Abenaquis, 192; 
hold conference with New England 
commissioners, 192 ; Six Nations, so 
called, 190; strength of, in 1750, 
202 ; refuse to take part in war of 
1744, 203 ; decline in prowess of, 
203 ; grand conference at Albany, 
206 ; practical division of confede- 
racy, 207, 259; chiefs visit England, 
188; French priests convert, 179, 
211; condition in 1768, 251; ac- 
tion in regard to the war of the 
Lenapes, 224 ; reply to invitation to 
embark in war of 1765,223; resolve 
to remain neutral in war of Revolu- 
tion, 262, 264, 266; debauched by 
the English, 267 ; divided in alliance 
in war of the Revolution, 273 j 
strength in the British alliance, 273 ; 
territory invaded by expedition under 
Gen. Sullivan, 279 ; condition un- 
der treaty of peace with Great Bri- 



408 



INDEX. 



Iroquois, continued — 

tain, 288 ; treaty with, in 1784, 289 

Jesuits, labors of the French, 166, 168 

Johnson, Sir William, 17 ; commissioned 
to invite Iroquois to conference, 212; 
appointed superintendent of Indian 
affairs, 222 5 commissioned to or- 
ganize expedition for capture of 
Crown Point, 222; removes council 
fire to Mount Johnson, 222 ; holds 
conference with Iroquois, 223 ; 
commands in battle of Lake George, 
224 ; endeavors to suppress hostilities 
in Pennsylvania, 224; holds con- 
ference with Lenapes, etc., 228, 229; 
removes petticoats from Lenapes, 
229 ; efforts of, to hold Indian tribes 
in alliance with the crown, 259 ; 
□iographical notice of, 260 

Johnson, Sir John, 2605 commands 
Royal Greens in siege of Fort Stan- 
wix, 274 ; removes his father's trea- 
sures, 2835 commands expedition 
against Schoharie settlements, 284; 
biographical notice of, 265 

Johnson, Guy, deputy superintendent of 
Iroquois, 260 j holds conference at 
Oswego, 263 ; appeals to Iroquois to 
take up arms, 263 5 second confer- 
ence at Oswego, 268 ; receives in- 
structions from Gen. Gage, 262 

Johnson Hall, battle of, 285 

Joselyn, John, 16 

Juet, Hudson's mate, visits Indians at 

Castleton, 9 
Jumonville, death of, 210 
Kalebackers, Indians having guns, 136 
Katskills, location of, 95; loving men of, 

9» 95 

Katsban, a village of the Katskills, 177 
Katonah, sachem of Siwanoys, 82 
Kayingehaga, Mohawks so called, 35 
Kayaderossera patent, 258 
Keeperdo, a Mahican chief, territory of, 
194 

Kieft, director, attempts the collection of 
tribute, 1 01 ; urges war measures, 
102; proclaims a public fast, 1095 
solicits aid from New England, 113; 
solicits mediation of Mohawks and 
Mahicans, 117 

King, Thomas, chief of the Oghakawa- 
gas, 201 

King, Philip, winter quarters near Albany, 
62; influence of his teachings, 203 

Kingston, first settlement at, 125 ; a vil- 
lage palisaded at, 128; aboriginal 
name of, 394 



Kinte-Kaying, an Indian dance, 28, 1 1 5 
Kitchawongs, location of, 79 
Kitchawong, sachem of Kitchawongs, 

. 79 

Kitzanacka, Indian priest, 27 
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, missionary labors 
of, 261 

Konapot, sachem of Mahicans, 89 ,* com- 
missioned captain, 196 
Kregier, Martin, journal of second Esopus 
war, 60; commands expedition 
against Esopus Indians, 149 
Krieckbeck, commandant at Fort Orange, 
joins war party of Mahicans, 100; 
killed by the Mohawks, 100 
Kryn, chief of the Caghnawagas, 180 
La Barre, governor of Canada, 169 
Lafayette, Mahicans under command of, 
286 

Lake George, battle of, 224 

Language, 333 ; Algonquin, origin of 
name, 64 5 Algonquin, grammar of 
the, 338 5 dialectic vocabularies, 
359 5 general reference, 333 ; geo- 
graphical names, formation of, 3545 
word building, 352 

Lawrence, Dr,, 17 

Leisler, Jacob, takes possession of Fort 
James, 1755 executed for treason, 

Lenni Lenapes, territory of, 35; signi- 
fication of name, 44 5 tradition re- 
specting origin, 44; traditionary 
war with the Allegewi, 45 ; form of 
government, 46 ; tribal divisions, 47, 
totemic divisions and emblems, 
49 ; subjugation of, by Iroquois, 64 ; 
wars with the Senecas, 68 5 made 
tributary to the Senecas, 69 j 
strengthened by emigrants from 
Shawanoes and Mahicans, 194 5 
strength of, in 1750, 202; sale of 
lands of, 213 5 in alliance with the 
French, 212; action of, concerning 
lands, 216 ; declare war against the 
English, 219 ; devastations by, along 
the Kittatinny mountains, and on 
the Susquehanna, 2205 hostilities in 
tht Minnisinks, 221, 238 ; declare 
themselves men, 225 ; Johnson 
sends peace embassy to, 224; John- 
son appoints conference with, 228 ; 
Johnson removes petticoat from, 
229 ; make peace with Pennsylvania, 
236 ; take part in Pontiac's conspi- 
racy, 243 ; massacre Connecticut 
settlers at Wyoming, 1763, 244 j 
join the Western alliance, 244 j 



INDEX. 



409 



Lenni Lenapes, continued — 

country of, invaded by the Eng- 
lish, 247 ; included in the peace 
of 1765, 249 ; condition of, in 
1768, 251 } declare war against Vir- 
ginia, 256 ; more powerful than the 
Iroquois, 258 ; east of the Allegha- 
nies unite with the Americans in 
the Revolution, 272 ; war cry of, at 
White Plains, 272 ; encouraged by 
the English to renew war, 290; re- 
new hostilities in the west, 291 ; 
make treaty with Gen. Wayne,292; 
on the banks of the Mississippi, 292 

Lenapewihituk, name of Delaware river, 
45 

Lewis, Colonel, death of, 257 
Logan, attack on encampment of, 
255; commands war party of 
Senecas, etc., 257 ; biographical 
sketch of, 314 

Long Island, Block builds ship on, 77 ; 
Dutch settlers on, 101 ; settlements 
ravaged, 1365 territory of, divided 
between Dutch and English, 124; 
treaty with Indians of, 124; abo- 
riginal name of, 365 

Long Reach, Indians of, 177 

Losses sustained by the Dutch in war of 
1643, 108 

Mahican confederacy, nine nations com- 
posing, 41, 85; original seat of, 41 ; 
subdue tribes on the sea-coast, 41 

Mahicans, a nation of the Mahican con- 
federacy, 41, 85; welcome Hudson 
at Castleton, 9 ; territory of, 34, 855 
sub-tribal divisions, 85 ; national 
council fire, 41, 62, 88 ; villages 
and castles of, 85, 86; tradition re- 
specting origin, 42 ; form of govern- 
ment, 42 ; relation of, to the Mohe- 
gans, 43 ; totemic divisions and 
emblems, 50 ; and Wappingers con- 
stitute one nation, 51 5 make treaty 
of friendship with the Dutch, 54 ; 
alleged subjugation of, 56; wars 
with the Mohawks, 57 ; ravage the 
east side of the Hudson, 60; offi- 
cially recognized by Massachusetts, 
62 ; relations with the government 
of New York, 62 ; sell lands to Van 
Rensselaer, 87 ; sell lands to Robert 
Livingston, 86, 87; obtain fire-arms 
from the Dutch, 66 ; attack the 
Manhattans, 105 ; defeat the Mo- 
hawks, 60, 61 ; murder Dutch sol- 
diers, 131; solicit peace on behalf 
of Esopus Indians, 1 37 ; included in 



Mahicans, continued — 

peace of Esopus, 145 ; at war with 
the Mohawks, 149, 156; meet 
French Indians at Cohoes, 145 j 
united in covenant with the Iroquois, 
161 ; instigated to hostilities against 
the Dutch by the English, i6oj 
assist the Mohawks, 175, 176^ 
strength of, in Albany county, 184; 
equality of, with the Iroquois, 186 j 
chiefs of, visits England, 188; in 
expedition against Canada, 189 ; re- 
moval of a portion to Pennsylvania, 
194; hold conference with the Mo- 
hawks, 204 ; attend conference at 
Albany, 214; strength of, in 1750, 
203; condition of, in 1768, 252} 
unite with Americans in Revolution, 
262 ; take part in the battle of Lex- 
ington, 271 ; sent on mission to west- 
ern tribes, 269, 272; take part in 
the battle of White Plains, 272 ; under 
Lafayette at Barren Hill, 286 ; ope- 
rate against English in Westchester 
county, 286; Washington's testi- 
mony regarding, 287 ; removal of, 
to Oneida county, 292 ; removal of, 
to Wisconsin, 292 
Mahak Niminaw, sachem of Katskills, 
96 

Mahican, Abraham, 88 

Mahikanders, Mahicans, so called, 41 

Mamekotings, location of, 95 

Manhattans, the old, subjugated by Wap- 
pingers, 51 ; enemies of the Sanhick- 
ans, 71; language of, 51, 77; 
the Dutch settle among, 77 5 Adri- 
en Block among the, 77 ; massa- 
cre of, by order of Kieft, 106 

Manhattan, explanation of term, 775 wars, 
99, 100 

Manhassets, location of, 74 

Manners and customs, 16; attention in 
sickness, 23; alliances, manner of 
forming, 32; chastity of females, 
22; child-birth, 23; castles and 
mode of constructing, 25 ; dwellings 
and mode of constructing, 24; dress of 
an Indian belle, 21 ; disposition of 
prisoners, 32 ; declaration of war, 3 1 j 
food and mode of preparation, 24; go- 
vernment and laws, 29 ; medicines, 
27; occupation, 24; organization of 
armies, 31; plurality of wives, 22; 
punishment for murder, 33 5 religious 
belief and worship, 27 ; rank and 
titles, 30 j title to lands, 30 ; wam- 
pum, 26; war, preparation for, 31 



410 



INDEX. 



Manners and customs, continued — 

war address, 31 j war song of Le- 
napes, 325 weapons of war, 255 
Van der Donck's description of 
appearance, 20 5 Verazzano's de- 
scription of appearance, 19 

Maquas, Mohawks so called, 355 castle 
of the Praying, 97 

Maringoman, sachem of Waoranecks, 94; 
castle of, 94 

Marsapequas, location of the, 73; take 
part in war of 1643,73; aid the 
Dutch in Esopus wars, 73, 149, 153 

Maramaking, sachem of Siwanoys, 82 

Massachusetts, sends war belt to Mahi- 
cans, 269 j reply of, to Mahican ad- 
dress, 271 

Matinecocks, location of the, 74 

Mattano, sachem of Raritans, 90 

Mauwehu, sachem of Schaticooks of 
Kent, Connecticut, 195 

Mayane, a Wappinger chief, 82, 113 

Medicines, 27 

Mechkentowoons, a Mahican chieftaincy, 

71, 85, 96 
Megriesken, sachem of Wappingers, 84 
Merricks, location of the, 73 
Mespath, village of, destroyed by Dutch, 

114 

Metzewakes, sachem of Kikhawongs, 79 
Miantonomo, sachem of -Narragansetts, 

Miami Rapids, council of tribes at, 291 

Mingoes, origin of, 257 

Minichque, a Mahican sschem, mortally 
injured by negroes, 185; biographi- 
cal notice of, 319 

Minnisinks, a chieftaincy of Minsis, lo- 
cation and villages of, 96 ; one of, 
charged .with murder at Esopus, 
127; take part in war of 1689, 
178 ; visited by Arent Schuyler, 
181; invite Shawanoes to settle 
among, 181 ; Minsis defrauded of 
lands at, 2175 settlers at, killed, 
222; devastations in war of 1756, 
238 ; Count Pulaski stationed at, 

277 ; destruction of settlement at, 

278 ; battle of, 278 

Minsis, a tribal division of Lenapes, 50, 
93 j totem and chieftaincies of, 50, 
93 ; at war with the Senecas, 68; 
obtain fire-arms from the Swedes, 
69, 120; Senecas aided by Mo- 
hawks against, 68, 165 ; subjugated 
by Senecas, 68, 165 ; a portion 
settle among the Ottawas, 177 ; de- 
cimated by small pox, 181 ; Shawa- 



Minsis, continued — 

noes settle among, 181 j devastate 
western Orange and Ulster, 221 ; 
murder settlers from Canastota to 
Esopus, 231 ; hostilities of, in Min- 
nisink country, 238 ; paid for lands 
in New Jersey, 241 
Mississagies, accepted as the seventh na- 
tion of the Iroquois confederacy, 199; 
alliance of, with Iroquois broken, 200 
Mitchill, Dr. theory of, 1 6 
Mohawks, a tribe of the Five Nations, 
36; territory of, 96; villages and 
castles of, 97 j totems of, 49 ; mode 
of declaring war, 31 ; conversion of, 
by Jesuits, 56; obtain fire-arms, 66, 
100 ; at war with the Hurons, 53; 
first treaty with the Dutch, 54; 
wars with the Mahicans, 57, 61 ; 
drive the Soquatucks from their land, 
59 ; weakened by the Mahicans, 60 ; 
solicit the gov. of Canada, for pro- 
tection against the Mahicans, 59; 
attacked by the Mahicans at Cagh- 
nawaga, 61 ; defeated by the Ma- 
hicans at Kinaquariones, 61 $ obtain 
assistance from the Oneidas, Cayugas, 
and Senecas, 61 ; send embassadors to 
Fort Orange, 131 j Dutch send em- 
bassadors to, 132; promise not to aid 
Esopus Indians, 133; send embassy to 
Esopus to negotiate peace, 136; regard 
Esopus war as having been caused by 
the Dutch, 141 ; included in peace 
of Esopus, 145 ; complain of bad 
treatment, 144; castles destroyed by 
the French, 175; Zinzendorp's 
statement concerning, 187; chiefs 
. visit England, 188; in expedition 
against Canada, 189; in expedition 
against Crown Point, 223 ; aid the 
English in war of Revolution, 273 $ 
retirement of, to Ouise river, 289 
Mohegan, meaning of, 50 
Mohegans, a Pequot clan, 63 
Monemius, castle, 85 
Monakadook, Seneca half-king, mission 
of, 233 

Montauks, location of, 75; chieftaincies 
of, 72; originally a part of Mahican 
confederation, 5 1 ; originally styled 
Manhattan, 51 ; at war with Narra- 
gansetts, 76 5 small-pox among, 76 j 
accept protection of English, 76; 
divided between English and Dutch, 
76 ; removal of portion of, to Oneida 
county, 293; reservation of, on 
Long Island, 294 



INDEX. 



411 



Montague, Rachel, taken prisoner, 1 50 ; 
pilots Dutch forces against Shawan- 
gunk, 150 
Montour, Catharine, the Queen Esther 

of the Senecas, 276 
Moody, Lady, house of, attacked, 123 
Moravians, testimony of, 88 
Morton, Thomas, theory of, 16 
Mount Misery, traditionary battle at, 8 1 
Muhhekaneew, original names of Mahi- 

cans, 41 ; orthography of, 41, 42 
Murderer's kil, Indians of, 93 
Murder, atonement for, 31 
Murders committed by Indians, 120 
Nanfan, Lieut. Gov., attends conference 

at Albany, 184 
Nanticokes, a portion of settled at 
Katskil, 95 ; removal of, from 
Maryland to Pennsylvania, 1995 ac- 
cept Mahicanders as brothers, 231 
National and tribal organizati'ons, 34 
Navisinks, location of the, 89 ; Hudson's 
intercourse with, 9, 89 ; kill John 
Coleman, 9, 89 
Nawaas, location of the, 85 
Necariages, application of, for acceptance as 
seventh nation of Iroquois, refused, 
200 

Nesaquakes, location of the, 74 
Neversink, explanation of term, 376} 
river, 591 

Nicholson, Gen., expedition against Ca- 
nada, 188, 189 

Nicolls, Richard, takes possession of Fort 
Amsterdam, 158 j proclaimed de- 
puty governor, 158 ; makes treaty 
with Iroquois, 158 ; renews treaty 
with Esopus Indians, 163 

Niessen, Ensign, sent to Esopus, 149 

Nimham, chief sachem of Wappingers,5 1, 
81, 84, 202; visits England, 253; 
killed in battle of Cortland's ridge, 
287 j biographical sketch of, 329 

Nochpeems, location of, 80 ; treaty with, 
117 

Novisans at war with Iroquois, 68, 159 
Nowedonah, sachem of Shinecocks, 75 
Occum, Rev. Samson, mission of, 293 j 

biographical sketch of, 325 
Ochtayhquanawicroons, settlement of, on 
the Susquehanna, 200 5 subsequently 
called the Oghkawagas, 200 ; Ma- 
hican clans settle among, 200 ; Ska- 
niadaradighroonas settle among, 200 $ 
Chugnuts settle among, 201 j Esopus 
Indians settle among, 201 ; King, 
Thomas, chief of, 201 ; connection 
of, with war of Revolution, 201 



Oghkawagas, elements composing, 200 
Oghkawaga, head-quarters of Brant, 267 
Ohio company, organization of, 208 

valley, French endeavor to secure 
possession of the, 208, 209, 210 
Onackatin, sachem of Warranawonkongs, 
95 j party to treaty of 1665, 1655 
lands of, 165, 387 
Oneidas, a tribal division of Iroquois, 97 j 
assign lands to Tuscaroras, 190; 
second castle of the, 201 ; accept 
war belt of colonists, 273 ; disper- 
sion of, by Brant's forces, 275 ; retali- 
atory descent of, upon the Mohawks, 
275 j severed from Iroquois -confe- 
deracy, 288 ; secured in possession of 
lands, 289 j Mahicans settle among, 
292 

Onderis Hocque, a Minsi chief, address 
of, 141 

Onondagas, a tribal division of Iroquois, 
35; make treaty with the Dutch, 
54 ; capital of the, 98 ; Spangen- 
berg's account of confederacy of, 40; 
territory of, invaded by French, 
1765 Zinzendorf's opinion of, 187} 
declare themselves independent, 
208 5 accept war-belts of the crown, 
273 ; capital of, destroyed by Sulli- 
van, 280 ; apply .to Oneidas for re- 
lief, 281 

Onondaga, capital of Iroquois confederacy, 
98; Jesuit missionaries at, 170; 
war belts taken to, for consultation, 
2135 council at, repudiates sale of 
Wyoming lands, 219 ; conference 
with Lenapes at, 227 5 destroyed by 
Sullivan's expedition, 281 

Organization of armies, 31 

Origin of the North American Indians, 
16 

Oriskany, battle of, 274 

Oritany, sachem of Hackinsacks, 91 ; 
treaty of, with the Dutch, no; 
party to treaty of 1645, 118; soli- 
cits peace on behalf of Esopus In- 
dians, 139 

Ottawas, location of the, 177 ; a number 
of, die of small pox at Esopus, 177 ; 
Pontiac, king of, organizes alliance 
against the English, 243 

Pacham, a chief of the Tankitekes, 80; 
advises massacre of the Dutch, J. 11 j 
surrender of a condition of peace, 
117 

Papequanaehen, an Esopus chief, killed, 
152 

Parnau, sachem of Rockaways, 73 



412 



INDEX. 



Passachquon, sachem of Navisinks, 90 
Patchogues, location of the, 75 
Patthunck, sachem of Siwanoys, 82 
Pauw, Michael, settlement of, 106, 107 
Pavonia, Jersey city so called, 106 j 
Manhattan fugitives at, 106 j massa- 
cre at, 107, 108 
Paxinos, a sachem of Minnisinks, 178; 
attends conference at Mt. Johnson, 
229; attends conference at Lancaster, 
2355 biographical sketch of, 305 
Peekskill, aboriginal name of, 79 
Pemerawghin, chief sachem of Warrana- 

wonkongs, 95 
Penhawitz, sachem of Carnarsees, 73} 
sends delegates to negotiate peace, 
109 ; conference with, at Rechquaa- 
kie, no 

Pennacooks, location of, 85 ; dispersion 
of, 62 5 a portion of, settle at Scha- 
ticook, 63 5 invited to remove to 
Canada, 184; remnant of, carried 
away to Canada, 216 

Pennsylvania, proprietaries of, purchase 
lands, 216; Lenapes dispute title, 
215, 2185 declares war against Le- 
napes, 228 5 deeds surrendered, 241 ; 
makes peace with Lenapes, 241 

Pequots, origin of the, 41 ; country of, 
43 j destruction of, 44 ; jurisdiction 
west of the Connecticut, 63 

Petroleum, use of, as a cure for small- 
pox, 181 

Pierron, a Jesuit missionary, labors of, 
97 

Plurality of wives, 22 

Pocahontas, reference to, 144 

Pontiac, king of Ottawas, conspiracy of, 
243 ; tribes in alliance with, 248 5 
failure of conspiracy, 246 

Ponus, sachem of Toquams, 80, 82 

Ponupahowhelbshelen, sachem of Weck- 
quaesgeeks, 79 

Pos, Captain, taken prisoner, 1235 ne- 
gotiates treaty of peace, 124 

Potick, a Mahican village, 63, 395 ; fugi- 
tives from King Philip's war at, 63 

Poughkeepsie, aboriginal name of, 371 

Poygratasuck, sachem of Manhassets, 74 

Praying Indians, Jesuit converts so called, 
179 

Presents, use of, in negotiations, 29, 31, 
214 

Preummaker, a chief of Warranawon- 
kongs, 95 ; killed by the Dutch, 
138 ; land of, 138 
Prisoners, ransom of, 124 
Proprietaries, (see Pennsylvania). 



Punganis, lands of, 177, 387 

Punishment for murder, 33 

Quassaick creek, 382 

Quaqaasno, sacnem of Shinecocks, 75 

Quebec, the Iroquois at, 172 

Queen Anne's war, 183 

Rank and titles, 30 

Raritans, a chieftaincy of Lenapes, loca- 
tion of, 90 j called Sanhikans or fire- 
workers, 90 ; remove to the Kitta- 
keny mountains, 90 ; accused of 
plundering, 10 1 ; attacked by the 
Dutch, 101 ; destroy a family at 
Mespath, 1315 remove to Oneida 
lake, 90, 293; remove to Lake 
Michigan, 90 ; New Jersey pays 
claim for lands, 293 
Rauch, Christian Henry, missionary, 197 
Rechtauck, Manhattan fugitives at, 106 j 

location of, 362 
Reckgawawancs, location of the, 77 j 
attack Hudson's ship, 11, 77; in- 
cluded in treaty of 1643,78 
Red Hook, traditionary battle at, 57 
Red Jacket, a Seneca chief pleads with 
his people for peace, 282 5 reference 

. !°> 3 I 7 < 
Religious belief and worship, 27 
Rochambeau, proclamation of, to French 

Indian allies, 258 
Rockaways, location of the, 73 
Rodolf, Sergeant, commands in massacre 

at Pavonia, 106 
Ronduit, a small fort, erected at the 

mouth of the Walkill, 130, 146 
Sachus, sachem of Kitchawongs, 79 
Sackagkemeck, sachem of Haverstraws, 92 
Sager's kil, Indian village on, destroyed, 

138 

Sanders, Robert, commandant at Schen- 
ectady, 174 

Saragbtoga, settlement at, destroyed, 205 j 
aboriginal name, 398 

Schabash, a chief of Shekomeko, 895 
biographical notice of, 328 

Schaticooks, elements composing the, 1 66, 
186} date of organization, i66j 
take part in war of 1689, 178 j in 
expedition against Canada, 189; of 
Connecticut, 166 j elements compos- 
ing, 195 

Schaticook, orthography and signification 
of, 195 

Schenectady, destroyed by the French, 
1 74 j Albany, so called by Iroquois, 
398 

Schodac, capital of the Mahicans, 88, 
374 



INDEX. 



413 



Schuyler, Col. Peter, secretary to com- 
missioners of Indian affairs, 186; 
accompanies chiefs to England, 1 8 8 
Col. Philip, 263 
Hon. Yost, the story of, 274 

Seatalcats, location of the, 74 

Secatogues, location of the, 75 

Senecas, a tribal division of Iroquois, 33 ; 
villages of, 98 ; at war with the 
Minsis, 68, 145 ; delegation visits 
Fort Orange, 144; included with 
Mohawks in peace of Esopus, 145 ; 
Stuyvesant urges them to make 
peace with Minsis, 146 ; subjugate 
Minsis, 695 attack French trading 
canoes, 1695 French expedition 
against, 172 ; estranged from the 
English, 211 ; action of, concerning 
Wyoming lands, 216} encourage 
Lenapes to war, 216; remove petti- 
coat from Lenapes, 219 ; make 
peace with the French, 242 ; invite 
an alliance against the English, 243 ; 
war against the English, 247 5 
Johnson makes treaty with, 147 ; 
accept the war belts of the English, 
273 5 country of, invaded by Sulli- 
van, 279 

Senecas of the Glaize in western alliance, 
292 

Sequins, location and cantons of, 82 ; 
sell lands to West India Company, 
82; sell lands to the English, 83; 
chief of, imprisoned of Eelkins, 63, 
83; compelled to pay tribute to Pc- 
quots, 83 

Sergeant, Rev. John, missionary, 196 
Sessekemick, sachem of Tappans, 91 
Sewackenamo, sachem of Esopus, 95, 1 395 

address of, 155 
Shanasockwell, an independent nation of 

Siwanoys, 82 
Shawangunk, castle at, 93, 149, 388; ex- 
pedition for reduction of, 150 ; new 
fort at, 152; expedition for reduc- 
tion of, 152; third expedition to, 
153 ; Miss Mack killed at, 283 $ lo- 
cation and signification, 388 
Shawanoes, removal of, from Maryland, 
180: aided by Mahicans, 180; 
make peace with Iroquois, 180; 
settle among the Minsis, 180; num- 
ber in expedition against Canada, 
189 ; take part in Lenape wars (see 
Lenapes). 
Shawuskukhkung, address by, 293 
Shekomeko, a Mahican village, 86; 
missionaries at, 86, 197, 198 



Sheyickbi country, 46 
Shinecocks, location of the, 75 
Shingas commands war party of Lenapes, 
2195 reply of, to Johnson's com- 
missioners, 225 
Shirley, Governor, expedition of, 252 
Sickenames, Pequots so called, 83 
Silver Heels, murder of, 256 
Sing Sing, aboriginal name of, 79, 366 
Sint-sinks, location of, 79 ; treaty with, 
117 

Sirham, sachem of Kitchawongs, 79 
Siwanoys, location of the, 81 
Sloughter, Col., appointed governor, 175 
Small-pox, ravages of, 181 
Smith, Ensign, in command at Esopus, 
134 

Smit, Claes, killed by a Weckquaesgeek, 
102 

Soquatucks, location 0^59,85; removal 
of, from west side of country, 59; 
'treaty of peace with Mohawks, 156 
Soquans, a Mahican sachem, 184, 186 
Souwenaro, sachem of Weckquaesgeeks, 
79 

Staats, Abraham, house of, burned, 60 
Stamford, Dutch expedition at, 114, 
115; massacre of Indians near, 116 
Staten Island, DeVries's plantation on, 

101 ; aboriginal name of, 362 
Stockbridge, mission established at, 196 
Stockbridges, Mahicans so called, 89 
Stuyvesant, regards Manhattan wars as 
having been caused by Dutch, 124; 
holds conference with Esopus In- 
dians, 126; demands Esopus lands 
as indemnity, 127; declares war 
against Esopus Indians, 137 ; makes 
treaty with Esopus Indians, 141, 155; 
holds conference with Senecas, 145; 
controversy with the English, 154 
St. Clair, Gen., concludes treaties at Fort 
Harmar, 290 ; defeated by Lenapes, 
291 

St. Francis, Indians, descent of, upon 

Schaticook and Hoosic, 205, 216 
St. Regis Indians, organization of, 179 
Sullivan, Gen., commands expedition 

against Iroquois, 279 
Susquehannas, subjugation of, 55 
Susquehanna Company, organization of, 
215 

Swannekins, the Dutch, so called, 108 
Tackapousha, sachem of Marsapequas, 

74, 76; treaty of, with the Dutch, 

124 

Tackarew, sachem of Reckgawawancs, 
78 



414 



INDEX. 



Tadame, king of Lenapes, murder of, 2,27, 
301 

Taghkospemo, sachem of Tappans, 91 
Tankitekes, location of, 80 ; treaty with, 
"7 

Tanadiarisson, speech of, 209 
Tappans, location of the, 91 
Tarrytown, aboriginal name of, 79, 366 
Teedyuscung, chief sachem of Lenapes, 
69, 227 j commands war-party of 
Eastern Lenapes, 2195 holds con- 
ference with Shawanoe and Mahican 
allies, 220 ; attends conference at 
Mount Johnson, 228 ; attends con- 
ference at Onondaga, 228 $ makes 
treaty with Johnson, 231 5 holds 
conference with governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, 232 ; speech of, at Easton, 
233; empowered to make peace, 
234; final treaty with, at Easton, 
241 5 murdered by Senecas, 244; 
biographical sketch of, 301 
Teller's Point, aboriginal name of, 79, 366 
Thayendanega, (see Brant, Joseph), 
Thompson, Charles, clerk to Teedyus- 
cung, 235 

Throgmorton, settlement of, destroyed, 
112 

Ticonderoga, fortifications erected at, 224; 

aboriginal name of, 375 
Title to lands, 30 

Tobaccus, sachem of Patchogues, 75 
Totems and totemic classifications, 49 
Traditions, 361; Dans-Kammer, 383; 
Hiawatha, 36 j Iroquois respecting 
origin, 35; Lenapes, respecting ori- 
gin, 45 ; Lenapes, respecting subjuga- 
tion, 64 ; Mahicans, respecting ori- 
gin, 42 ; Mahicans, respecting Hud- 
son's visit, %3 5 Mahopac lake, 368 ; 
Manetta hill, 364; Naoman, a tra- 
dition of Murderer's creek, 378 ; 
stepping stones, 362; Wanton Is- 
land, 395 5 Wawanaquassick, 373 
Trade, mode of conducting, 120 
Treaty with Iroquois, 1623, 54; 
with Mahicans, 1623, 545 with 
Weckquaesgeeks, etc., 1644, 117; 
with Mohawks and Mahicans, 1 644, 
117; with Weckquaesgeeks, etc., 
1645, 118; with Esopus Indians, 
1660, 142; with Esopus Indians, 

1664, 156; with Esopus Indians, 

1665, 163 ; with Iroquois and Ma- 
hicans, 1664, 158; with Tacka- 
pausha, 1656, 124; with Iroquois, 
1768, 250 

Tryon coujjty, committee of safety of, 262 



Tschoop, a Mahican chief, conversion of, 
197 

Tuscaroras, an original Iroquois tribe, 36; 
remove to North Carolina, 36; de- 
feated by English in North Carolina, 
190; return of, to Iroquois country, 
190; constituted the Sixth Nation, 
1 90 j accept war-belts of colonists, 
273 _ 

Tusten, Lieut. Col., commands in battle 

of Minnisink, 278 
Umpachenee, commissioned lieutenant, 

196 

Unamis, a tribal division of Lenapes, 47, 
50, 89; chieftancies of, 895 totem 
of, 50 5 the ruling tribe of the Le- 
napes, 47 

Unalachtos, a tribal division of Lenapes, 
47 ; totem of, 50 

Uncas, a Pequot chief, 43 

Underhill, Capt. John, enters the Dutch 
service, 113; commands expedition 
against Canarsees, 114; commands 
in expedition against Weckquaes-^ 
geeks, 115, 116 

Unukat's castle, 85 

Van der Donck, description of Indians of 
New York, 20 $ sub-tribal classifi- 
cations of, 72 

Van Dyck, Hendrik kills a squaw, 121 ; 
shot by the Indians, 122 

Vaudreuil, invades neutral territory, 204 

Van Voorst, Garret Jansen, killed, 104 

Van Tienhoven, secretary, mother of, 108 

Verazzano, description of Indians of 
New York, 19 

Verdrietig Hook, 92, 93, 377 

Vriesendael (see De Vries) 

Vielle, Arnout, interpreter, 181 

Virginia, operations of, in Ohio valley, 
209, 210; war of, against the 
French, 210 

Walking treaty, the, 216 

Wampum, description of, 26 

Wanton Island, traditionary battle on, 
57, 395 

Wantage, sachem of Merricks, 73 

Waoranecks, location of, 93 

Wappingers, a tribal division of Mahicans, 
42 5 chieftaincies of, 77 ; sovereignty 
of, 63 ; no jurisdiction west of Hud- 
son, 84 ; a portion remove to Penn- 
sylvania, 85 ; attack boats on the 
Hudson, in ; war party of, visit 
New Amsterdam, 121^ attacked by 
burgher guard, 1225 destroy Hobo- 
ken and Pavonia, 1223 retain 
prisoners as hostages, I24j treaty 



INDEX. 



415 



Wappingers, continued — 

with the, 136 : encouraged by Eng- 
lish to revolt, 155 ; solicit peace for 
Esopus Indians, 155; take part in 
war of 1689, 178 ; removal of 
clans to Otseningo, 231 ; claim 
lands in Dutchess county, 252 ; 
aid Americans in war of Revolution, 
2865 signification of name, 370 

Wappinger's creek, aboriginal name of, 
84, 37° 

Warrawakin, sachem of Seatalcats, 74 
Warranawonkongs, location of, 71, 945 

wars with the Dutch (see Esopus 

Indians), 

Warren Bush, settlement at, destroyed, 
285 

War song of Lenapes, 32 

Wars, Cresap's, 285 5 Esopus, first, 120, 
1335 Esopus, second, 146; French, 
and Indian, 1787, 171 ; 1702, 187; 
1744, 203; 1785, 208; Iroquois 
and the French, 172; King Philip's, 
625 Lenapes for independence, 21 6$ 
Lenapes, etc., 1793, 291 ; Mahi- 
cans and Manhattan, 1055 Mahi- 
cans and Mohawks, 58, 158 j 
Minsis and Senecas, 67, 145 ; Mo- 
hawks and the French, 131, 174; 
Montauks and Narragansetts, 76 ,• 
Pontiac's conspiracy, 243, 246 ,• 
Queen Anne's, war, 187 ; Revolu- 
tionary war, 258 ; Raritans and the 
Dutch, 101; Senecas and Minsis, 
67, 145 ; Senecas and the French, 
145, 169 ; Tuscaroras and North 
Carolina, 190 ; Weckquaesgeeks and 
the Dutch, 102, 108, 111,119, 121 

Wassenaar and De Laet's account of sub- 
tribal organizations, 7 1 

Wasenssne, sachem of Tankitekes, 80 

Washington, Major George, commands 
expedition against the French, 210; 
holds conference with Lenape and 
Seneca, chiefs, 210; attacks the 
French in ambush, 210 5 retreats to 
the great meadows, 211 5 withdraws 
from Ohio valley, 211 



Warwarsinks, location of, 95 
Wawayanda, signification of, 385 
Wawiachech, sachem of Pennacooks, 
193 

Wawyachtonocks, location of, 85 
Wayne, Gen., defeats Western tribes, 

292 ; makes treaty of Greenville, 

292 

Weapons of war, 25 

Weckquaesgeeks, location of, 78 ; a 
warrior of, killed, 101 ; attacked by 
the Dutch, 103; murder Ann Hutch- 
inson, 1 12 5 castles of, destroyed, 
1 14 5 treaty with, 117 
Weckquaesgeek territory, 366 
Welsh col6nization of America, 17,45 
Werekepes, a Haverstraw chief, 92, 94 
Weskheun, sachem of Kitchawongs, 79 
Weskora, sachem of Weckquaesgeeks, 

79 

Wessickenaiuw, sachem of Weckquaes- 
geeks, 79 

Westenhucks, location of, 85 

Westenhuck, Mahican national council 
at, 89 

Western controversy, parties to, 258 
Western tribes, alliance of 1793, 292 
Whitneymen, sachem of Matinecocks, 

74 j negotiates peace, 117 
Wiekajocks, location of, 85 
Willehoosa, cavern on Shawangunk 

mountains, 96 
Wiltmeet, Indian castle of, 95 j destroyed 

by the Dutch, 1 37 
Wiltwyck, the old village of Esopus, 147 $ 

houses burned at, 147; council of 

war at, 149 
Winnequaheagh, sachem of Secatogues, 

75 

Wyandance, sachem of Montauks, 75 ; 
death of, by poison, 76 

Wycombone, sachem of Montauks, 76 

Wyoming, lands at, purchased by Sus- 
quehanna Company, 215 

Wyoming lands, 250, 25, 264, 265 ; 
massacre at, 276, 277 

Yonkers, aboriginal name of, 77, 365 



